Analysis of gender differences on pyriform aperture of human skulls using geometric morphometric method

Abstract

Background: Piriform aperture is anterior opening of the nasal cavity formed by bones of the viscerocranium and knowledge about differences between genders is important for forensic scientists, anthropologists, orthopaedists, neurosurgeons and vascular surgeons. The aim of this study was to examine gender differences of piriform aperture on three-dimensional (3D) models of human skulls originating from Bosnian population using the geometric morphometric method. Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 211 3D models of human skulls of known gender. 3D models were obtained by laser scanning. We analysed the gender differences of piriform aperture using geometric morphometrics method. On 3D models we marked four landmarks on piriform aperture in the Landmark Editor programme, after which we analysed its gender differences in MorphoJ programme. Results: The first principal component analysis axis described 40.398% of total variability of piriform aperture. The greatest gender variability was present in the position of the landmark rhinion. Discriminant functional analysis of the shape and size of the piriform aperture allowed the gender determination with 64.03% accuracy for male and 70.83% accuracy for female gender. The size of the piriform aperture showed a statistically significant difference between genders. Discriminant functional analysis of the shape of the piriform aperture without affecting size enabled gender determination with 59.71% accuracy for male and 62.5% accuracy for female. Conclusions: Analysis showed statistically significant differences in the shape and size of piriform aperture between genders. The accuracy for gender determination based on piriform aperture was higher in females.