Nwangwu Chinecherem Callistus*

Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Anambra state, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: Nwangwu Chinecherem Callistus, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Anambra state, Nigeria.

Received: March 01, 2023; Published: April 11, 2022

Abstract

The method of determining age by cranial suture closure has always been more generally used because the cranium is the best preserved portion of the recovered skeleton that resists putrefaction and not easily destroyed. Age estimation using cranial suture closure is of paramount importance and requires special attention in cases where bodies are found in decomposed, multilated state or only fragmentary remains are discovered. This study aims at estimating the age of the skull using endocranial suture closure in line with Ascadi-Nemeskeri scale system of aging the skull. This study was conducted on 114 human crania gotten from Nigeria higher Institutions. Ascadi-Nemeskeri scale of suture closure was used to access the age after cleaning the endocrania. Scale of endocranial suture closure from 0-4 was observed in 16 parts as done by Ascadi-Nemeskeri. The sutures studied includes: the coronal, sagittal and lambdoid sutures. Data were analysed using the statistical package of social science (SPSS) version 20. It was observed that almost complete closure of coronal suture occurs at the age range of 40 to 50 years, almost complete closure of sagittal suture occurs at the age range of 45 to 75 years and that of lambdoid suture occurs at the age range of 45 to 55 years. Cranial sutures is one of the important anatomical landmark that can be used to estimate age of an individual especially in cases where the individual's age is unknown. This work has shown a statistical link between cranial sutures and skull age (p = 0.00).

Keywords: Cranial Sutures; Age Estimation; cranium; Ascadi-Nemeskeri

References

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Citation

Citation: Nwangwu Chinecherem Callistus. “Determination of Skull Age using Cranial Sutures". Acta Scientific Anatomy 2.3 (2023): 17-23.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Nwangwu Chinecherem Callistus. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.