title: Squamous suture--a rare case of asymmetrical closure with review of literature.
abstract: Cranial sutures give a wide estimate of age and asymmetric closure of sutures is likely to further complicate the process of age estimation from the closure of cranial sutures. Literature on the estimation of age from squamous suture is limited. A rare case of asymmetric closure of squamous suture is reported along with a review of literature. The reported case highlights on the fact that asymmetric closure of the sutures may cause inaccuracies in age estimation when only one half of the skull is available for forensic examination. Asymmetric closure of sutures may also lead to erroneous opinion on the number of individuals in cases when fragments of skull are brought for medicolegal investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal University, India. tanujkanchan@yahoo.co.in
authors.forename: Tanuj
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanchan
authors.forename: Kewal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krishan
authors.forename: G Pradeep
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton; D003393:Cranial Sutures / Q000002:abnormalities*; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D020390:Tooth Socket / Q000033:anatomy & histology
keywords: Age estimation; Asymmetric closure; Cranial suture; Squamous suture