Cross-section Morphologic Features in Thai Adult Scalp Hair

Abstract

Objective: This research purposes were to study various cross-section morphologic features in Thai adult scalp hairand to study the effect of sex on these parameters studied.

Methods: This study was cross-sectional study. Scalp hair samples from posterior vertex region were collected fromcadavers, aged between 18 years and 45 years, died within 24 hours, and underwent medico-legal examinationat Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University and the Instituteof Forensic Medicine, Police General Hospital, during October 2010 to September 2011. All hair samples werekept dried at room temperature prior to being examined under a compound microscope equipped with NIS-Elements BR program version 3.0. The acquired data were then computed to some certain studied parameters.

Results: The total of 108 hair samples kept from cadavers, aged 18-45 years (31.93 ± 7.84); 53 males aged 18-45years (32.09 ± 7.71) and 55 females aged 18-45 years (31.76 ± 8.02), were studied. The researchers reportedthe means of hair diameters, medulla diameters, cortex widths, cuticle widths, medulla widths, hair indices,hair areas, medullary indices, medulla areas, and ellipticity indices of Thai scalp hairs, and found that sex hadno influence on these parameters at a level of significant statistic (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The studied parameters in this study could be used as a reference data for Thai adult population andused as the supporting information for personal identification in forensic science.