Journal of Applied Biosciences (J. Appl. Biosci.) [ISSN 1997 - 5902]
Volume 26: 1636 -1639. Published February 8, 2010.
A study of sexual dimorphism of the human sternum in the southern Nigerian population
*Osunwoke E.A, Gwunireama I.U,Orish C.N, Ordu K.S, Ebowe I.
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Port Harcourt. Nigeria.
* Author for correspondence e-mail: aeosunwoke@yahoo.comABSTRACT
Objective:A study on sexual dimorphism of the human sternum in southern Nigeria was conducted on 94 adult human sterna comprising 68 males and 26 females. Measurements were carried out along the length of the manubrium and mesosternum and results showed that the average mean length of male and female manubrium was 60.7± 10.7mm and 46.0 ± 6.13mm respectively. The average mean length of the male and female mesosternum was found to be 101.3 ± 13.22mm and 77.9 ± 7.07mm respectively. The combined length of the manubrium and mesosternum was gotten for male and females as 164.6 ± 19.96mm and 123.3 ± 11.8mm respectively.
There was a significant difference between the male and female sternum.
This is of great importance in medical science in areas of forensic investigations.
Key words: Sexual dimorphism, human sternum, southern Nigeria.
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