A Study of Age Estimation by Radiological Assessment of Ossification Centers at Hand Wrist and Elbow Joint at a Tribal Teaching Medical College of Adilabad

Abstract

Background: Radiological assessment of the skeletal ages is an important tool for the estimation of age inthe living. Such data can be very useful for forensic practitioners especially in developing countries some ofthe population is uneducated where the birth records are not present.Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology,Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences [RIMS], Adilabad. A total of n=26 males and n=46 females caseswere examined for the ossification at 4 areas which include left-Hand epiphyses (the distal end of radius andulna), Base of the first metacarpal and Conjoint Epiphyses. The assessment of radiographic images of handand elbow joints was based on the revised method for epiphyseal union assessment.Results: The mean ages at ossification for stage I in males were found to be 12.90 years. At stage II we foundthe mean age of 15.18 years. In stage III we found the mean age of 16.15 years and stage IV the mean agevalue at all ossification centers was 19.18 years. Similarly for females the mean values of all ossificationcenters at the stage I estimated the age of 14.12 years. In stage II the mean age estimated was 15.27 yearsand stage III the mean age estimated was 16.29 years and stage IV mean age estimated was 17.96 years.Conclusion: Within the constraints of the present study we found that hand wrist and elbow joint radiographsare very useful for estimation of bone age in cases up to 18 years of age. We used digital radiographs alongstages for determining the degree of ossification which has a greater degree of reproducibility and reliability.