title: Facial soft tissue thickness in the Brazilian population: new reference data and anatomical landmarks.
abstract: Facial soft tissue thickness measurement can be useful among several medico-legal techniques that aim to establish the identity of skeletal remains. This study examined the soft tissue thickness that covered the faces of autopsied cadavers sent to the Medico-Legal Institute of Guarulhos from September 2010 to September 2011. Forty-nine anatomical facial landmarks were measured in cadavers less than 24h after death; these data were analysed using two-tailed t-tests. This project was approved by an ethics committee. One hundred cadavers were studied (74 males and 26 females). A majority of these individuals had died between 41 and 60 years old. Of the 49 anatomical landmarks, only five differed between the sexes (i.e., p-value less than 0.05): upper lip margin (p=0.006), superior labial sulcus (p=0.006), stomion (p=0.001), right lateral orbit (p=0.008), and left cheilion (p=0.009). The inclusion of additional anatomical landmarks allowed us to establish more precise facial thickness parameters that have the potential to be applied to cadaver facial approximations in Brazil; furthermore, some anatomic landmarks presented a higher discriminant power with regard to sex.
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, Universidade de São Paulo (FOUSP), Departamento de Odontologia Social, Avenida Professor Lineu Prestes, 2227, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP, Brazil. nataliehaddad@usp.br
authors.forename: Natalie Haddad
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: de Almeida
authors.forename: Edgard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Michel-Crosato
authors.forename: Luiz Airton Saavedra
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: de Paiva
authors.forename: Maria Gabriela Haye
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Biazevic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D002102:Cadaver; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012727:Sex Characteristics
keywords: Facial approximation; Forensic anthropology; Forensic anthropology population data; Forensic dentistry; Human Identification; Soft tissue thickness