title: Estimating legal age based on fusion of The proximal humeral epiphysis.
abstract: The increasing demand which requires ascertaining the legal age of undocumented individuals who reach the various countries of the European Community means that new lines of research must be developed which help respond to questions posed by the Justice Administration. For this reason, this study has been designed on the basis of fusion times of the proximal humeral epiphysis. Moreover, the ultrasound scan has been used as the diagnostic method. It is a non-invasive technique, unlike the radiograph, which is used under current standards for the forensic diagnosis of age. Used as a study sample were the ultrasound images of the proximal humeral epiphysis among 221 individuals belonging to the Spanish population, of both genders, of ages ranging from 5 to 30 years. All of the images were classified into 6 stages of fusion based on the morphology of each. The results display differences among the six age groups proposed for each of the stages of fusion and are of great interest from the perspective of enforcing the Spanish Criminal Law Act on Minors, because Stage 4 would mean that the person being studied is under the age of 16 years in the case of males and 15 years in the case of females. These results, coupled with the use of ultrasound as a non-invasive diagnostic technique, make this study a very useful method when the use of radiographs is not possible.
authors.affiliation: Toxicology and Sanitary Law Department, School of Legal and Forensic Medicine of Madrid, Complutense University of Madrid, Avenida Complutense s/n. Pabellón 7, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain. maria.benito@ucm.es.
authors.forename: María Benito
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.affiliation: CENCIFOR- Center for Forensic Science, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sónia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Codinha
authors.affiliation: Toxicology and Sanitary Law Department, School of Legal and Forensic Medicine of Madrid, Complutense University of Madrid, Avenida Complutense s/n. Pabellón 7, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Alexandra Muñoz
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: García
authors.affiliation: Toxicology and Sanitary Law Department, School of Legal and Forensic Medicine of Madrid, Complutense University of Madrid, Avenida Complutense s/n. Pabellón 7, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: José Antonio Sánchez
authors.initials: JAS
authors.lastname: Sánchez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004838:Epiphyses / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D006801:Humans; D006811:Humerus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development*; D008297:Male; D010012:Osteogenesis; D014463:Ultrasonography; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Forensic age estimation; Fusion time; Proximal humeral epiphysis; Ultrasound