Determination of sex with occipital condyle measurements on three-dimensional computed tomography images

Purpose: Morphometric measurements of cranial bones in skeletal remains are important for sex determination. Nowadays, radiological imaging techniques such as computed tomography are very useful in obtaining population-specific data. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of morphometric measurements of the occipital condyles in 3D cranial CT modeling for sex estimation in a Turkish population. Materials and methods: In this study, three-dimensional images of the occipital condyles were obtained by retrospectively using the carotid CT angiography images from the radiology department between 2019 and 2021. In these images, the length, width and height of both occipital condyles, distances between the basion with and the anterior and posterior ends of the occipital condyles, distances between the opisthion the anterior and posterior ends of the occipital condyles, anterior, posterior, minimum and maximum intercondylar distances, maximum bicondylar distance, right and left sagittal condylar angles, sagittal intercondylar angle, were measured. Results: A statistically significant sexual dimorphism was found for all parameters except the left condylar angle measured in the occipital condyles. According to multivariate discriminant analysis models, sex could be estimated with an accuracy of 81.2% to 84.6% for males and 52.9% to 68.8% for females. Conclusion: It was determined that three-dimensional computed tomography images of the occipital condyles can be used in sex estimation.