Stature estimation from anatomical landmarks in femur using postmortem CT

Abstract Objective The present study aims to assess the correlation between stature and partial femur measurements in Japanese population, using three-dimensional (3D) computed tomographic (CT) images. Method A total of 195 cadavers (105 males, 90 females) underwent postmortem CT scanning and subsequent forensic autopsy between April 2013 and June 2014. Five femur length measurements were taken from 3D CT volume rendering (VR) images according to three anatomical landmarks: the greater trochanter, the lesser trochanter, and the adductor tubercle. The correlations between stature and each of the femur length measurements were assessed with Spearman's rank correlation test, and showed significant correlations between stature and femur length measurements. Results Using a mixed-sex regression formula, the R 2 was from 0.644 to 0.766 and actual difference was less than 4.6 cm. Conclusion Present study showed that femur length measurements, according to the anatomical landmarks obtained from 3DCT VR images, were useful for estimation of the stature, particularly in cases when a total femur bone was not available.