NCJ Number
213733
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 51 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2006 Pages: 230-237
Date Published
March 2006
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper describes a simple and minimally invasive method of determining age at death from a tissue analysis of the femur, using a contemporary Dutch (West European) sample.
Abstract
The dependence of predicted age on nonremodeled tissue surface in the entire anterior cortex of the femur for both males and females appeared to be curvilinear and statistically significant. With increasing age, the percentage of nonremodeled bone declines. Taking into account that this effect disappeared for percentages over 80 percent, a set of regression equations was developed. After proper zeroing of the microscope's polarization filter set, application of the proposed method was easy to implement, produced sound age assessments, and was more in line with the natural curvilinear progress of remodeling. Gender can be ignored in age prediction. Optimal results require the proper zeroing of the polarization filter set of the microscope. Instructions for setting the filters are given. The study examined the femoral shaft segments of 162 individuals with ages that ranged from 15 to 96 years old. Subperiosteal quantitative assessments were recorded at the most anterior point of the femoral shaft and also at points 25 degrees to the left and to the right of that point. This paper describes the material and equipment preparation, microscopic analysis, interobserver agreement, body size, and statistical analysis. 8 figures, 2 tables, and 37 references