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VOLUME 9 , ISSUE 2 ( July-December, 2019 ) > List of Articles

Original Article

Exfoliative Cytology in Age Estimation

Sankari Radhakrishnan, Ramesh Venkatapathy, Pennagaram D Balamurali, Premalatha Babu, Karthik SV Prasad, Mohamed Thawfeek

Keywords : Cell size, Exfoliative cytology, Stage micrometer

Citation Information : Radhakrishnan S, Venkatapathy R, Balamurali PD, Babu P, Prasad KS, Thawfeek M. Exfoliative Cytology in Age Estimation. 2019; 9 (2):33-35.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10083-0903

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 01-04-2020

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2019; The Author(s).


Abstract

Age estimation plays an important role in determining the identity of an unknown individual in case of any crime or mass disaster and is not only needed in case of dead individuals but also for living persons for record purpose. Aims and objectives: The study was done to identify the age of an individual using the exfoliated cells of buccal mucosa by comparing the cell size. Materials and methods: Buccal smears were obtained using a wet wooden spatula by gentle scraping motion, fixed using 95% ethanol, and were stained using standard hematoxylin and the eosin staining procedure. The average cell size was measured using a stage micrometer grid. The statistical analysis of the data was done using Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: The results show the statistical significance with p < 0.001 correlating the decrease in cell size with increasing age. Conclusion: Age-related changes are observed in buccal smears that can be used as a tool for age estimation.


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