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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21088/ija.2320.0022.9320.3

Abstract

Background: Hyoid bone is of considerable forensicinterest owing to its susceptibility to fracture duringmanual strangulation, hanging and other forms ofneck compression. In road traffic accidents it mayget injured leading to significant airway concerns. Ahyoid bone’s shape may influence its susceptibility tofracture and hyoid fractures are frequently confused with normal variations in both clinical and forensic medico-legal cases. Aim our study was to establish a method of sex differentiation by the shape of hyoid bone there by helping the forensic expert to come to a conclusion.

Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the department of anatomy on 60 hyoid bones obtained from medico legal postmortems conducted in the department of forensic medicine, Government
medical college Mysore.

Results: It is observed that the most common shape of hyoid is ‘U’ in male’s and deviated type in female’s.Least common types are ‘V’ shape in male’s and boatshape in females.

Conclusion: The present study was conducted toknow the relationship of the sex with the shape ofthe hyoid bone . The presence of a fractured hyoidbone is of great importance in cases involving badly decomposed bodies and skeletal remains lacking softtissue evidence of neck injury. The present study was conducted to help forensic experts while diagnosing hyoid fractures and determination of sex from the skeletal remains.

 

Keywords : hyoid bone; shape; Fracture; sex determination; Forensic expert.

Corresponding Author : Savitha V, Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, affiliated to Adichunchanagiri University, B G Nagara, Karnataka 571448, India.