Methods for diagnosing the sex of adult human by anatomical and morphological features of arytenoid cartilages

Abstract

Background: One of the main issues of general personality identification is the ascertainment of the sex of impersonated or fragmented bodies. Sporadic studies in the forensic medical literature have reported larynx cartilage sexual dimorphism, among which arytenoid cartilages are absent. The publications have morphometric focus and do not consider the practical aspects of sex diagnostics, which have been determined in this study. Aim: To develop a method for determining sex using the features of sexually dimorphic anatomical and morphological arytenoid cartilage of an adult. Materials and methods: The anatomical and morphological features of arytenoid cartilage from 80 males and 80 females aged 2078 years were studied. The visual examination revealed differences related to sex based on nine characteristics. The reliability of the sexual dimorphism of traits was verified using the Chi-square test and proportionality coefficients. Results: The informational significance of the features was clarified, and the individual observations were digitized using the formula. The possibility of sex determination by arytenoid cartilage was established in 93.75% of cases. In the remaining 6.25% cases, it was deemed impossible to solve this problem using the given set of features. Conclusion: The method developed for determining sex is highly accurate and can be used in sex diagnostics during a forensic medical larynx examination of a decayed or a fragmented corpse.

Keywords

• arytenoid cartilage
• anatomical and morphological signs
• right-left-handed affiliation
• sex determination