Review2025

Skull joints assessed via CT for age estimation—a systematic review

Fernanda Thomaz de Aquino Macedo · Maria Eduarda Ramos Stefanel · Adriano Sakurada · Débora Duarte Moreira · José Luiz Cintra Junqueira · Ademir Franco

7 citations0/0 files storedDentomaxillofacial Radiology

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies Autopsy Techniques and Outcomes Child Abuse and Related Trauma

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To screen the existing scientific literature and to evaluate the reliability of skull joints as biological markers for age estimation when analysed via CT. METHODS: The study followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and was registered in Open Science Framework (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/PCVEF). Eligible studies included observational cross-sectional research that assessed skull joints for age estimation through CT. Data from 5 databases were screened: Medline/PubMed, Scopus, LILACS, SciELO, and Open Grey. The risk of bias was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tools for Systematic Reviews. RESULTS: A total of 15 studies out of 4633 initially screened were eligible. The studies tested age estimation based on the spheno-occipital joint (53.33%) and cranial sutures, namely coronal, sagittal, and lambdoid (46.66%). Multi-slice CT was the most commonly used imaging modality (66.66%), with a slice thickness of <1 mm in 93.33% of studies. All the studies that assessed the spheno-occipital joint endorsed its application for age estimation, but some (37.5%) stressed limitations. Four (57.14%) out of the 7 studies that assessed the cranial sutures raised concerns about their use for age estimation (3 advised against it). Most of the studies had a low risk of bias (86.66%). CONCLUSION: Findings supported the forensic application of the spheno-occipital joint for age estimation in adolescents and young adults, despite variability in fusion age. Cranial sutures were largely discouraged as sole markers because of unsatisfactory accuracy and high error risks.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 7 citations exist upstream.

References

2021The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews 2009Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement 2015Methodological guidance for systematic reviews of observational epidemiological studies reporting prevalence and cumulative incidence data 2019Estimation of age in forensic anthropology: historical perspective and recent methodological advances 2010Analysis of time of closure of the spheno-occipital synchondrosis using computed tomography 2013Applicability of Willems model for dental age estimations in Brazilian children 2010Human dental age estimation using third molar developmental stages: Accuracy of age predictions not using country specific information 2013Age estimation by multidetector CT images of the sagittal suture

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.