Frontal sinuses (FSs) have been studied in radiology, anthropology, and forensic anthropology. This study aimed to determine whether it was possible to predict the age and sex of an individual using FS volume. Sixty-nine anonymized CT scans were imported to MIMICS 10.01(®) software (Materialise N.V.), and each FS volume was calculated in mm(3) . There was an absence of significant difference between right and left FS volume (p = 0.173) and an absence of correlation between age and FS volume (Pearson's test; p = 0.705). Sexual dimorphism was significantly different (p = 0.001). However, the most discriminant datum for determining sex was found to be the total FS volume (sum of an individual's right and left FS volumes) with linear discriminant Fisher's function coefficients of -2.759 for the male group and -1.275 for the female group. With this model, 72.5% of our sample was correctly classified according to sex.
Keywords: forensic anthropology; forensic science; frontal sinus volume; identification; physical anthropology; sexual dimorphism.
© 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.