Abstract

Background: The present study is an attempt to estimate stature from the measurements of Foramen Magnum using postmortem multidetector computed tomography (PMCT) in the North Indian population. Foramen Magnum Length (FML) and Foramen Magnum Breadth (FMB) measurements for every skull were taken using the PMCT of 100 North Indian people. Materials and Method: PMCT examination was performed using a 16-slice MSCT spiral scanner, Cannon Medical Systems, results were evaluated with the Vitrea software v.6.9.1. The images were viewed using Multiplanar Reconstruction and Volume Rendering technique (MPR-VRT). STAT, FML, andFMB were measured and analyzed Results: The study population comprised 57 males and 43 females with a mean age of 38.3 years, respectively. Regression analysis was used in stature estimation from FML and FMB. The standard error of estimate (SEE) of the FML was 6.18 and FMB was 6.64 for the combined population while SEE ranged from 4.77 to 5.21 cm for the male population and 6.18 to 6.30 cm for the female population respectively. Conclusions: This study is the first to provide a metric and statistical analysis of the Foramen Magnum measurements in Northern India using PMCT and concluded that stature estimation is highly possible with minimum SEE from the Foramen Magnum measurements. Furthermore, the equations derived to estimate stature in this study can be considered as an alternative to solve forensic cases, in scenarios where only an isolated skull is retrieved and no long bones are available, which are considered better predictors to date.

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