Estimation of Age of Ossification of Hyoid Bone by Radiological Examination of Autopsy Specimen

Identification is essential in living persons, decomposed, mutilated bodies and skeletal remains. The three primary characteristics used for identification of a person are sex age and stature. Visual identification is difficult and impossible in cases of explosions, fires and mass disasters. In a living person, the bones would constantly undergo changes and these changes follow a chronological pattern which is used in Forensic medicine for determining the age of a person. In this study, a total of 155 cases were selected randomly from the cases brought to the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Madras Medical College, Chennai, during the period of 2011 to 2012 for medico legal autopsy. Permission from the Institutional Ethics Committee was obtained. Radiological examination of the hyoid bones was carried out and the data analyzed.