POPULATION DATA Age estimation at death by the study of chest plate radiographs: establishing a Tunisian male score Nidhal Haj Salem 1 & Said Saadi 1 & Sami Ben Jomaa 1 & Houssem Othmani 1 & Badii Hmida 2 & Sana Elmhamdi 3 & Abir Aissaoui 4 & Mondher Golli 2 & Ali Chadly 1 Received: 17 January 2019 /Accepted: 3 June 2019 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract We aim to establish a Tunisian score for age estimation through the study of chest plate’ s radiographs of a Tunisian male sample. We have focused on the study of 128 chest plate radiographs of Tunisian male individuals. We have established a score of eight criteria. The total score ranges from 8 to 32. Three observers scored double-blind the X-ray films. We studied the correlation of each criterion as well as the total score with chronological age for each observer. We also tested the reproducibility and the repeatability of criteria and total score. We calculated the estimated age for each score. We studied the relationship between the estimated age and the chronological age. The correlation between the total score and the chronological age has been good for the three observers (0.746, 0.756 and 0.742). The total score gives an estimation of age with a standard deviation of ± 5.88 years and a confidence interval of 95%, the interval’ s width increases gradually from 6.9 years to 23 years. Keywords Forensic medicine . Anthropology . Age . Sternum . Rib . Radiography Introduction Age estimation at death in forensic anthropology can be per- formed with various methods, which have been admittedly validated on the population from which the method has been developed. These methods need to be adapted to new human groups of the same ethnicity and also to different ethnic groups [1]. McCormick, in 1988 [2], and Barrès et al. [3], in 1989, studied radiographs of sternal plastrons collected during medico-legal autopsies. They tried, each on their own, to find a fast, simple, and reliable method to estimate age at death by studying the changes affecting costal cartilages, the ribs, and the sternum. But the results of this calculated score had rather a weak correlation with the actual age. Estimating age at death by examining the first costal carti- lage is well documented in the literature [4]. In fact, the min- eralization and osteogenesis of the first costal cartilage in humans has been studied radiologically and histologically in order to determine their exact locations, the type of ossifica- tion, and their potential correlations with the degenerative changes associated with aging [5]. At only the changes of the first costal cartilage with age cannot be a fairly accurate tool for medico-legal needs (Barchilon et al., 1996) [6]. For McCormick (1988) [2], young individuals have a reg- ular and generally concave cost incisura, which becomes pro- gressively more and more irregular with age till the age of 30, when it becomes quite obvious. McCormick [2] concluded that a person’ s age is estimated to be less than 25 years in case of a regular manubrio-costal edge, between 25 and 35 years with a slightly irregular edge and over 35 years in case of a very irregular edge. Costal cartilage’ s ossification is relatively related to age and sex [7], so it is useful to integrate this parameter in the score and to study the importance of this relationship. * Nidhal Haj Salem nidhal.hajsalem@yahoo.fr 1 Department of Forensic Medicine and Laboratory of Research LR12SP14, Teaching Hospital Fattouma Bourguiba, University of Monastir, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia 2 Department of Radiology, Teaching Hospital Fattouma Bourguiba, Monastir, Tunisia 3 Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Teaching Hospital Taher Sfar, Mahdia, Tunisia 4 Department of Forensic Medicine, Teaching Hospital Taher Sfar, Mahdia, Tunisia International Journal of Legal Medicine https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02101-5