Determination of Sex Using Various Parameters of Hyoid bone Ahmed S. K. Nawaz1, Sreenivasan M.1,* 1Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu *Corresponding author: Dr. M. Sreenivasan, Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, 603103, Tamil Nadu, India, Email: sreenindu@gmail.comin
Online published on 27 November, 2019. Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the sex differences in the hyoid bone. The hyoid bone is characterized by sexually dimorphic features and thus it can be used for sex determination while establishing the biological profile in unknown skeletal remains. In this study we have assessed the sex prediction potential of four parameters, three of these being measurable metric dimensions of the hyoid bone and the fourth, the weight of the dry bone in a series of adult cadavers. A total of two hundred hyoid bones (100 males and 100 females) from autopsied cases, aged from 18–60 years were studied. Analysis of the results confirms that the measurements are sexually dimorphic and have statistically significant differences (p<0.001). These results suggest the possibility that the hyoid bone can be used in determination of sex of the corpse in cases of analysis of a collection of unknown bones. Top Keywords Hyoid bone, dimorphic features, sex determination, skeletal remains. Top |