Radio-morphometric evaluation of Clivus in Indian ethinicity-A cone beam computed tomography study

Objective: The aim of present study is to determine the age and sex related changes in clivus length and clivus width. The present study also evaluates the age prediction on the basis of clivus width and clivus length. Material and Methods: The CBCT images of 200 subjects obtained from Carestream 9000cc (USA) CBCT machine at 90 Kvp, 4 mA for 11.3 seconds at FOV(17”x13.5”)voxel size of 300 in the age group of 6yrs to 78 yrs (130 male, 70 female) were chosen. The clivus length and clivus width were measured using Trophy Dicom Ink software programme on sagittal images (DICOM images). Results: The mean of clivus length was statistically significant (p<0.05) and higher in males compared to females however the clivus width was statistically not significant (p>0.05) in both males and females. The Pearson correlation coefficient shows that the clivus length and clivus width was directly associated with age. The clivus length was found to be statistically significant in all age groups i.e. statistically significant difference was observed between age groups (p value <0.05). The clivus width was also found to be statistically significant in all age groups i.e. statistically significant difference was observed between age groups (p value < 0.05). The mathematical equations derived from linear regression analysis can be used for prediction of age in males and females if the clivus length and clivus width is known. Conclusion: The CBCT measurement of the clivus dimensions can be used to predict the age of individuals. The clivus dimensions are directly related to age and gender. So it can be concluded that clivus dimensions can be used to differentiate male from female and age determination. However it can also be used as an additional or only parameter when other parameters or measures were inconclusive in medico-legal cases.