Radiological study of the ossification process of medial clavicular epiphysis: the influence of sex and laterality.

BACKGROUND

Radiological examination of bones such as the clavicle have been developed to estimate the age of an individual without valid identification or when suspected of providing inaccurate age. However, there is a paucity of information on the influence of sex and laterality on age in the estimation process. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of sex and laterality in the ossification process of the medial clavicular epiphysis within the South African and Kenyan population.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A retrospective study of 1605 digital radiographs selected from the South African and Kenyan population aged between 14 and 30 years was performed. The ossification process of the medial clavicular epiphysis was scored in accordance with Schmeling's (2004) staging system. The difference between the chronological age and estimated age for each sex was recorded in a Bland-Altman chart. A log linear regression test was used to test for bilateral asymmetry in the ossification status of the medial epiphyses

RESULTS

While statistically significant differences between males and females were observed in stages 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the ossification process, a paired sample t-test did not report any statistically significant difference in the asymmetry of the medial epiphysis (p = 0.89).

CONCLUSIONS

The present study concurs that the maturation of the clavicle starts earlier in the female population. However, no significant differences were recorded in the timeframe of maturation between the right and left clavicles.