Open AccessEarly Maturity as the New Normal: A Century-long Study of Bone Age
Author(s) -
Melanie E Boeyer,
Richard J. Sherwood,
Chelsea B Deroche,
Dana L. Duren
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
clinical orthopaedics and related research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.178
H-Index - 204
eISSN - 1528-1132
pISSN - 0009-921X
DOI - 10.1097/corr.0000000000000446
Subject(s) - medicine , bone age , wrist , milestone , ulna , observational study , longitudinal study , phalanx , demography , pediatrics , surgery , anatomy , pathology , archaeology , sociology , history
Epiphyseal fusion (EF) marks the completion of longitudinal bone growth, a critical milestone monitored during treatment of skeletal growth and/or developmental disorders. Recently, a trend toward accelerated skeletal maturation in children has been documented. Because current methods for assessing skeletal maturation include children in their reference populations born as early as the 1930s, the timing of EF events in contemporary patients may differ substantially from those standards.