Growth Pattern and Fetal Age Estimation from the Diaphyseal Length of Femur

Study on prenatal growth and development of human aspects has always been a neglected part. Expert opinion is routinely asked by the legal authorities to the anatomists regarding the age, sex and the cause of death of human from his skeletal remains. The anatomists could answer such queries, if the deceased under question belong to postnatal stage, childhood, adolescence or adult. But if such queries are asked on the prenatal stage of human, difficulties are faced to provide answers to such questions. The reason for this lacuna is precisely because of the unavailability of proper reference on such field. In the present study the maximum length of the diaphysis of femur (f-ml) was measured on 912 fetal femora, the largest ever reported, from 456 human fetuses (244males and 212 females) of age range between 11 weeks to 40 weeks of intrauterine life. The fetuses were collected over the period of more than 25 years and the femora were prepared through simple maceration process. The f-ml has been correlated with CRL and CHL. Bisexual and bilateral differences have been analyzed. Growth pattern of the fetuses has been analyzed and the growth rate has been calculated on the basis of f-ml.  Required regression equations were calculated to estimate fetal age, a crucial factor in medico-legal cases.