Gender dimorphism of the relationships between the cranial and facial skull sections in mature human individuals

Background. To date, the range of individual anatomical variability of the cranial profile type in mature adults, depending on gender and skull structure type has not yet been adequately established. Aim. To study gender-specific ratios of the cranial and facial parts of the skull in mature adults. Materials and Methods. The materials of our study consisted of 115 skulls of mature adults of both sexes, including 35 dry bone specimens of whole or fragmented skulls. For each parameter, the following metrics were calculated: The following parameters were used in the statistical analysis: (arithmetic mean), σ (standard deviation), and m (standard error of the mean). Results. It was found that in men the skull length is =181.36 with σ=3.31 and m=0.46, while in women it does not exceed =176.57 with σ=3.28 and m=0.47; the skull width in men reaches =141.17 with σ=2.62 and m=0.34, and in women, it does not exceed =134.94 with σ=2.50 and m=0.33; the height parameter of the skull in men also reaches maximum values at the level of =141.38 with σ=3.75 and m=0.52, while in women, it is somewhat lower at =137.24 with σ=3.15 and m=0.55. In mature men, the upper facial width is =94.17 with σ=3.87 and m=0.50, while in women, this parameter averages =90.71 with σ=4.05 and m=0.54; the middle width in men reaches =128.93 with σ=1.53 and m=0.20, while in women, it does not exceed =122.49 with σ=1.44 and m=0.19; the maximum indicators of angular width are established in men, averaging =99.64 with σ=4.15 and m=0.54, while in women, they do not exceed =92.27 with σ=3.78 and m=0.51. Conclusions. The study identified significant gender-specific differences in the cranial and facial dimensions of middle-aged individuals. Men demonstrated larger average values for skull length, width, and height, as well as upper face width, bizygomatic width, and angular width, compared to women. These findings highlight distinct morphological characteristics between genders. Keywords: computed tomography, cranial index, face width, face length, face height.