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RESEARCH PAPER
Reliability of patellar volume in sex determination – a computed tomography study
1
I Department of Medical Radiology, Medical University, Lublin, Poland
2
Doctoral School, Medical University, Lublin, Poland
3
Department of Correct, Clinical and Imaging Anatomy, Medical University, Lublin, Poland
4
I Clinic of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Medical University, Lublin, Poland
5
Department of Medical Informatics and Statistics with E-Health Lab, Medical University, Lublin, Poland
6
Department of Radiology, VoxeMedical Diagnostic Centre l, Łańcut, Poland
Corresponding author
Karol Jakubik
I Department of Medical Radiology, Medical University of Lublin, Jaczewskiego 8, 20-090, Lublin, Poland
I Department of Medical Radiology, Medical University of Lublin, Jaczewskiego 8, 20-090, Lublin, Poland
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction and objective:
Determination of the sex of skeletal remains is of great importance in forensic anthropology. Since skeletons can often be incomplete, sex assessment based on a single bone becomes useful. The aim of this study is to investigate the sexual dimorphism of the patella, and the accuracy of patellar measurements in determining the sex of an individual in a contemporary Polish population sample using computed tomography.
Material and methods:
The study sample consisted of adult patients of Polish descent undergoing computed tomography angiography of lower extremities. A total of 130 individuals (69 males and 61 females) were included in the study. Five measurements were examined for left-hand side patellas: craniocaudal patella dimension (CCP), transverse patella dimension (TP), anteroposterior patella dimension (APP), patellar angle (PA) and patellar volume (PV).
Results:
All studied measurements were significantly higher in males than in females. According to the receiver operating characteristics analysis, PV proved to be the most reliable parameter for distinguishing male from female patella, with an accuracy rate of 83.9%. The CCP and TP also showed high accuracy values of 82.3% and 81.5%, respectively. PA proved to be the least effective parameter for sex identification in the study (61.5% accuracy). The multivariate model, based on all measurements, achieved an accuracy of 82.3%. An analysis of variance showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the multivariate and the univariate model for patellar volume.
Conclusions:
The results indicate that the patellar measurements, especially PV, may be useful in sex determination in the Polish population.
Determination of the sex of skeletal remains is of great importance in forensic anthropology. Since skeletons can often be incomplete, sex assessment based on a single bone becomes useful. The aim of this study is to investigate the sexual dimorphism of the patella, and the accuracy of patellar measurements in determining the sex of an individual in a contemporary Polish population sample using computed tomography.
Material and methods:
The study sample consisted of adult patients of Polish descent undergoing computed tomography angiography of lower extremities. A total of 130 individuals (69 males and 61 females) were included in the study. Five measurements were examined for left-hand side patellas: craniocaudal patella dimension (CCP), transverse patella dimension (TP), anteroposterior patella dimension (APP), patellar angle (PA) and patellar volume (PV).
Results:
All studied measurements were significantly higher in males than in females. According to the receiver operating characteristics analysis, PV proved to be the most reliable parameter for distinguishing male from female patella, with an accuracy rate of 83.9%. The CCP and TP also showed high accuracy values of 82.3% and 81.5%, respectively. PA proved to be the least effective parameter for sex identification in the study (61.5% accuracy). The multivariate model, based on all measurements, achieved an accuracy of 82.3%. An analysis of variance showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the multivariate and the univariate model for patellar volume.
Conclusions:
The results indicate that the patellar measurements, especially PV, may be useful in sex determination in the Polish population.
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| eISSN: | 1898-2263 |
| ISSN: | 1232-1966 |
Generation of the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) - task financed under the agreement No NrRCN/SP/0532/2021/1 by the Minister of Science and Higher
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