Rim and Wall of sternal rib ends, a specific approach to justify age

Study of age dependent morphological changes in varieties of bones is a distinguished way to justify age, especially for ages beyond thirties. This study was carried out to discover various changes at sternal rib ends of fourth ribs with special attention to the rim and wall, as well as to correlate them with the age of an individual. Special focus was given to ascertain any bilateral variability for the same. Total 170 ribs were collected from male dead bodies out of which 140 ribs belonged to 70 cases were included as study materials. Each rib was classified according to different stages of Rim and Wall morphology. The data derived were statistically analysed. It is concluded that changes of rim and wall at sternal end of fourth ribs are age dependent. With the advancing age, Rim changes from its smoothness towards the well-defined scallops formation to ill-defined scallops and Wall changes from its appearance to its increasing thickness and then towards its structural deterioration with bony projections. There is no any significant bilateral variation seen in changes of rim and wall according to age.