Identification: pubic symphysis ageing: practice question

The best answer is B, Pubic symphysis. The surface of the pubic symphysis changes progressively from a ridged, billowed face in young adults to a flat, then rimmed and finally eroded surface in old age.

Cranial suture closure is highly variable and less reliable.

The lower radial epiphysis fuses in late adolescence and gives no information for older adults.

The sternal segments unite in young adult life, so the sternum is less useful than the pubic symphysis for staging middle age.

It tests Identification: pubic symphysis ageing in Forensic Medicine. Because the changes are fairly regular, Todd's ten phases and the Suchey-Brooks stages are widely used.

We tag it as an application question: it asks you to use a fact on a patient or a finding. The tag is our own editorial judgement, not an official difficulty rating, so read the reason for every option, not only the answer.

Learn postmortem changes with their timelines, and toxicology as poison, sign, test and antidote. Then use the flashcards and the other Forensic Medicine questions on this site to test what stuck.

No. It is an original practice item (editorial status: sample, version 1). NextPrep does not publish recalled or leaked questions, and independent faculty review of this item has not been completed yet, so confirm important facts in a standard textbook.