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Notches in the non‐epiphyseal ends of the metacarpals and phalanges in children of four South African populations
Author(s) -
Levine Errol
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330360312
Subject(s) - phalanx , notching , anatomy , ossification , medicine , white (mutation) , population , biology , biochemistry , materials science , environmental health , gene , metallurgy
The incidence of notches in the non‐epiphyseal ends of the shafts of the metacarpals and phalanges was determined from radiographs of the left hand of 1,303 Pretoria school‐children aged 6 to 11 years. The group included White, Negro, Coloured and Indian children. The notches represent vestiges of supernumerary epiphyses or pseudo‐epiphyses. Notching of one or more of the metacarpals or phalanges was found in 88.9% of White children, 77.1% of Negro children, 84.3% of Coloured children and 78.8% of Indian children. Notches were most common in metacarpal I followed in declining order of frequency by metacarpal II, metacarpal V, middle phalanx V and proximal phalanx I. Notches were rare in other sites. The mean number of notches per subject was significantly higher in males than in females in all four population groups. However, the sex differences appear to be due mainly to earlier obliteration of notches in females. The findings in White children suggest that there is no significant relationship between metacarpal and phalangeal notching and skeletal maturation rate. Notches are significantly more common in Pretoria Whites than in relatively poorly nourished Pretoria Negro children. It is concluded that the occurrence of notches is a normal phenomenon accompanying the ossification of the hand skeleton and that notching is related neither to retardation in skeletal development nor to undernutrition.