Cranial anatomical structures with high sexual dimorphism in metric and morphological evaluation: A systematic review

Juliana Calistro da Silva; Henrico Badaoui Strazzi-Sahyon; Gabriel Pereira Nunes; Jesus Carlos Andreo; Maurício Donalonso Spin; André Luís Shinohara

doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2023.102592

Cranial anatomical structures with high sexual dimorphism in metric and morphological evaluation: A systematic review

J Forensic Leg Med. 2023 Oct:99:102592. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2023.102592. Epub 2023 Sep 19.

Authors

Juliana Calistro da Silva¹, Henrico Badaoui Strazzi-Sahyon², Gabriel Pereira Nunes³, Jesus Carlos Andreo⁴, Maurício Donalonso Spin⁵, André Luís Shinohara⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Bauru School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo - USP, Bauru, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: ju_calistro@usp.br.
² Department of Prosthodontics and Periodontology, Bauru School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo - USP, Bauru, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: ico_strazzi@usp.br.
³ Department of Preventive and Restorative Dentistry, Araçatuba School of Dentistry, São Paulo State University - UNESP, Araçatuba, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: gabriel.nunesp94@gmail.com.
⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Bauru School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo - USP, Bauru, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: jcandreo@usp.br.
⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, Bauru School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo - USP, Bauru, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: mauriciospin@hotmail.com.
⁶ Department of Biological Sciences, Bauru School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo - USP, Bauru, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: andreshinohara@yahoo.com.br.

PMID: 37742445
DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2023.102592

Abstract

The mastoid process has attracted the attention of several researchers due to its protected position at the base of the skull and the fact that it is relatively compact, in addition to being highly resistant and dimorphic, considered as a gold standard anatomical structure in the determination of the sexual dimorphism of skulls. However, intrinsic and extrinsic factors may influence this anatomical structure over time, providing contradictory and ambiguous data. Therefore, other anatomical structures need to be evaluated concurrently with the mastoid process to provide better accuracy and reliability of skull sexual dimorphism data. Thus, the objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the degree of reliability of the mastoid process to determine sexual dimorphism compared to other dimorphic structures, since there are still no systematic reviews on the subject in the literature. This review follows the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) and was recorded in the Prospective International Systematic Reviews Registry (PROSPERO) (CRD 42023395167 Systematic Registry) (CRD420223). The inclusion criteria for selecting the studies were based on the PICO question: "Are skull anatomical structures reliable as alternatives to determine sexual dimorphism compared to the mastoid process?". A literature search for studies was performed in the MEDLINE Scopus, Web of Science, LILACS, and Cochrane Library databases. The Kappa agreement presented an approval level of (k = 0.93). This systematic review analyzed 13 ex-vivo studies published between 2008 and 2023. The risk of bias was considered low in 12 of the studies, and high in 1 study. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that even with the limitations of this systematic review, quantitative and qualitative analyses are essential in sexual identification of human skulls, and different anatomical structures can be used as references in addition to the mastoid process, with high reliability and precision, among them the; glabella, frontal profile, superciliary arch, bizygomatic width, maximum cranial length, and nasal height.

Keywords: Forensic anthropology; Human identification; Mastoid; Sex characteristics.

Publication types

Review