Gender and race determination of the maxillary sinus among Malaysian population by computed tomography

Population characterization is an issue with increasing importance nowadays due to the high risk of mass multiple fatalities and the need for human identification. It is also of great importance for the pathological study of some diseases. Radiology is used in forensic pathology for the identification of humans. The cranium is the most benificial body area for identification by comparison radiography. The aim of this project is to use the maxillary sinus measurements to determine sex and race of the Malaysian populations. A retrospective study was conducted in Hospital Shah Alam, Selangor in the period from January 2017 to November 2018 to include 37 Malay, 9 Chinese and 10 Indians. The participants underwent full paranasal sinus study by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Eight measurements were studied namely RMD, LMD (right and left maxillary depth), RMMW, LMMW (right and left maxillary maximum width), RMID, LMID (right and left maxillary Intermediate width), RMH, LMH (right and left maxillary height). Results showed that all the studied measurements are characteristic to the Malaysian populations as it showed no significant gender differences except LMH (p 0.007) and also no significant racial differences. Moreover, the intraracial gender comparison also shows no significant differences except in the RMD (p 0.039) and LMD (p 0.031) among the Indians. It is concluded that all the studied maxillary sinus measurements are consistent regarding gender or racial comparison among the Malaysian populations, means it can be characteristic for the Malaysian population and can be used to differentiate Malaysian from non-Malaysian populations.