Computed tomography of the occipital bone for sex estimation in Turks.
4 affiliations
- 1Ministry of Justice, Council of Forensic Medicine, The Group Presidency of Forensic Medicine - Ankara, Türkiye.
- 2Ministry of Justice, Council of Forensic Medicine, The Group Presidency of Forensic Medicine - Van, Türkiye.
- 3Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Radiology - Ankara, Türkiye.
- 4Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Forensic Medicine - Ankara, Türkiye.
Abstract
Objective
Sex estimation is a fundamental component of forensic identification when DNA analysis is not feasible. Because cranial morphology and sexual dimorphism vary among populations, population-specific standards are required. However, occipital bone morphometric data for Turkish adults remain limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of occipital bone measurements obtained from cranial computed tomography for sex estimation in Turkish adults.Methods
Three-dimensional cranial computed tomography images of 384 individuals (192 females, 192 males), aged 18-65, obtained between 01/01/2010 and 31/12/2021, were retrospectively analyzed. Nine anatomical distances on the occipital bone were measured, and their discriminative roles in sex estimation were assessed using logistic regression analysis. Additionally, inter-observer agreement was evaluated by comparing measurements from two independent observers.Results
The combined analysis of all measurements yielded a sex prediction accuracy of 82.8% for females and 80.2% for males. Foramen magnum width, occipital condyle length, occipital condyle width, and external occipital protuberance depth were identified as the most discriminative variables. A model combining these four variables achieved classification accuracies of 83.3% for females and 79.2% for males, with an overall accuracy of 81.3%. The full model including all nine measurements showed an overall accuracy of 81.5%. High intra- and inter-observer agreement was observed.Conclusion
Computed tomography-based morphometric analysis of the occipital bone is a reliable method for sex estimation in forensic medicine. These results support the development of population-specific reference data for the Turkish population.
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BibTeX
@article{arslan2026computed,
title = {{Computed tomography of the occipital bone for sex estimation in Turks.}},
author = {Esra Arslan and Veysel Osman Soğukpınar and Melahat Kul and Yaşar Bilge},
journal = {Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1590/1806-9282.20260627},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42879587},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Computed tomography of the occipital bone for sex estimation in Turks.
AU - Esra Arslan
AU - Veysel Osman Soğukpınar
AU - Melahat Kul
AU - Yaşar Bilge
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992)
DO - 10.1590/1806-9282.20260627
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42879587
AB - Objective Sex estimation is a fundamental component of forensic identification when DNA analysis is not feasible. Because cranial morphology and sexual dimorphism vary among populations, population-specific standards are required. However, occipital bone morphometric data for Turkish adults remain limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of occipital bone measurements obtained from cranial computed tomography for sex estimation in Turkish adults.Methods Three-dimensional cranial computed tomography images of 384 individuals (192 females, 192 males), aged 18-65, obtained between 01/01/2010 and 31/12/2021, were retrospectively analyzed. Nine anatomical distances on the occipital bone were measured, and their discriminative roles in sex estimation were assessed using logistic regression analysis. Additionally, inter-observer agreement was evaluated by comparing measurements from two independent observers.Results The combined analysis of all measurements yielded a sex prediction accuracy of 82.8% for females and 80.2% for males. Foramen magnum width, occipital condyle length, occipital condyle width, and external occipital protuberance depth were identified as the most discriminative variables. A model combining these four variables achieved classification accuracies of 83.3% for females and 79.2% for males, with an overall accuracy of 81.3%. The full model including all nine measurements showed an overall accuracy of 81.5%. High intra- and inter-observer agreement was observed.Conclusion Computed tomography-based morphometric analysis of the occipital bone is a reliable method for sex estimation in forensic medicine. These results support the development of population-specific reference data for the Turkish population.
SN - 0104-4230
SN - 1806-9282
ER -