title: Is a CT-scan of the medial clavicle epiphysis a good exam to attest to the 18-year threshold in forensic age estimation?
abstract: Computed tomography (CT) scan of the medial clavicular epiphysis is one of the methods recommended by the Study Group on Forensic Age Diagnostics to estimate the age of living individuals. The aim of our study was to assess the relationship between the skeletal maturation of the sternal end of the clavicle and the chronological age in a sample of French individuals, using a nine-stage classification. We retrospectively reviewed 319 chest CT-scans of individuals aged 15-30 years old (252 males, 67 females). Among males and females, all individuals with a complete fusion, or an ongoing fusion of more than one third of the total surface of the metaphysis were at least 18 years old. Our results were consistent with data in the literature indicating that individuals with a complete fused clavicle were at least 18 years old. Similar studies with the same methods allow for creating a database of samples from different countries to confirm the validity of this method and its excellent results in forensic age estimation of living individuals.
authors.affiliation: Institut Médico-Légal, CHRU Tours, 37044 Tours Cedex 9, France. Electronic address: t.houpert@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tyffanie
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Houpert
authors.affiliation: Institut Médico-Légal, CHRU Tours, 37044 Tours Cedex 9, France. Electronic address: camille.rerolle@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Camille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rérolle
authors.affiliation: Service de Médecine Légale, CHU Rangueil, Avenue du Professeur Jean Poulhès, 31043 Toulouse Cedex 4, France; Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse, AMIS UMR 5288 CNRS, 37 allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse Cedex, France. Electronic address: fredsavall@hotmail.fr.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Savall
authors.affiliation: Service de Médecine Légale, CHU Rangueil, Avenue du Professeur Jean Poulhès, 31043 Toulouse Cedex 4, France; Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse, AMIS UMR 5288 CNRS, 37 allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse Cedex, France. Electronic address: telmon.n@chu-toulouse.fr.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Telmon
authors.affiliation: Institut Médico-Légal, CHRU Tours, 37044 Tours Cedex 9, France; Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse, AMIS UMR 5288 CNRS, 37 allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse Cedex, France. Electronic address: p.saint-martin@chu-tours.fr.
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saint-Martin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton / Q000379:methods*; D002968:Clavicle / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development*; D004838:Epiphyses / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography; D010012:Osteogenesis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Clavicle; Computed tomography; Forensic age estimation; Forensic anthropology population data