Comparison of abnormalities in the sequence of growth stages in the skeletal maturity index vs cervical vertebral maturation.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the frequency of abnormal progression that could ultimately affect the reliability of the skeletal maturity index (SMI) and the cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) method that are most commonly used analyses for skeletal age assessment.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A retrospective design was used to compare 299 hand-wrist radiographs with 299 lateral skull radiographs regarding the number of abnormalities in the proposed sequence of maturation in the SMI and CVM methods.

RESULTS

A significantly greater number of abnormalities occurred in the sequence of CVM progression compared with SMI (P < .001). Sex and age did not have an effect.

CONCLUSIONS

Skeletal age assessment based on SMI is more accurate than CVM regarding the progressive sequence of stages.