Background: Determination of sex from the skeletal remains is of immense importance in the field of forensic medicine, physical anthropometry and anthropology. Various previous studies have demonstrated sternum as an important tool for the determination of sex.
Aims: Aim of the present study was to establish normal range of values for various dimensions of sternum in the studied population and evaluate the sexual dimorphism in the sternum.
Material & Methods: The present study was conducted at M.P. Shah Govt. Medical College, Jamnagar on Computed tomography scans of a total of 83 adult Gujarati individuals (57 males, 26 females). Various sternal and manubrial linear measurements and indices were measured and analyzed.
Results: It was found in the study that manubrial length, sterna length, manubrial width and combined length of manubrium and sternum were found to be larger in male and the difference was statistically significant. Among the various indices studied, none showed statistically significant difference between male and female. The combined length of manubrium and sternum was found to be the most accurate for determination of sex among all studied parameters, which accurately indentified 24.56% of sterna as male and 11.53% as female by the method of demarking point.
Conclusion: The combined length of sternum and manubrium is the most reliable criteria for the determination of the sex of a sternum. Various indices, defined in relation to manubrium and sternum, were found to be non effective for the determination of sex of a sternum
