Morphometric Analysis of the Orbital Aperture in North Indian Population: A Retrospective Digital Forensic Study

INTRODUCTION: The morphometric variations seen in the orbital aperture play a significant role in forensic anthropology, for determining the personal and gender identification, especially in case of mass disasters. AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the orbital aperture dimensions along with interorbital distance as observed on posteroanterior (PA) cephalograms for personal and gender identification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the morphometric dimensions of orbital aperture seen on PA cephalogram taken using PLANMECA digital machine and ROMEXIS software. The height and width of the orbits along with the interorbital distance were measured using measuring tools in the accompanying software. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21.0. RESULTS: All the linear measurements such as orbital height, orbital width, and interorbital distance were significantly greater in males than females in the North Indian population with P = 0.001. The present study found 84.8% accuracy after subjecting the obtained value to discriminant function analysis. CONCLUSION: The morphometric analysis of the orbital aperture using postero-anterior cephalogram can be used as an adjuvant for personal and gender identification in forensic anthropology.