A forensic team examines the sternal end of a fourth rib from skeletonised remains for age assessment. The pit is shallow and U shaped, the surrounding rim is thin, sharp and irregular, and the bone wall shows no billowing. These findings correspond to:

• A Adolescence, before epiphyseal fusion
• B Advanced adult age, typically beyond 60 years ✓
• C Young adulthood, around 20 to 25 years
• D Any age, since the sternal rib end carries no age signal

Explanation

The sternal rib end remodels in a predictable sequence described by Iscan: a billowed youthful rim becomes a deep V shaped pit in early adulthood, then progressively shallows into a U shaped pit with thin, sharp, irregular margins in the elderly. The deep V shaped pit with scalloped walls would point to a young adult under about 25 years, which kills option C.

Reference: Parikh's Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, 9th ed.

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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.