Macroscopic Cranial Suture Closure in An Adult Population: Is It Reliable for Estimating Age?

Abstract

Age estimation is a key factor for the estimation of true sketch of an individual. Generally speaking, assessment of the age of a person either alive or dead is very important in medicolegal and forensic scenarios.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the chronology and mold of union of cranial sutures, specifically sagittal, coronal, and lambdoid, and to find out the association between cranial suture closures with the age of the dead. An attempt was also made to see the applicability of the Acsadi and Nemeskeri method in an Indian population. A total of 193 adult calvarias (133 males and 60 females) were studied from autopsy cases. The degree of closure was studied in the three main sutures of the calvarium namely sagittal, coronal and lambdoid.

The ectocranial sutures closed after the closure of endocranial sutures in all three studied sutures in various age groups. The sagittal suture showed earlier closure than coronal and lambdoid sutures on the scoring scale. When the Acsadi and Nemeskeri method was analysed using our data, it showed that scale of 0 to 4 worked fairly well with increasing age, with a score near 0 in younger populations and a score of 4 in older populations.

Thus, we can conclude that closure of sutures occurs with advancing age in sagittal, coronal and lambdoid sutures. The sagittal, coronal, and lambdoid sutures are usually open in younger populations below 28 years of age while they are almost always closed in the age group