Determination of skeletal maturity and bone age from cervical vertebrae has been well documented. Most methods described use subjective evaluation of morphological characteristics of cervical vertebrae and may be prone to variability and error. A few objective methods have also been developed, specific for certain populations and genders. The aim of this study was to establish and validate an objective method to determine cervical vertebral bone age from lateral cephalometric radiographs, for Asian South Indian patients of both genders. Ninety boys and 90 girls between 9 and 15 years of age were recruited, and their lateral cephalograms were taken. Using measurements made from the third and fourth cervical vertebrae, a formula to determine cervical vertebral bone age was derived using stepwise regression analysis. To validate the formula, a separate sample of 30 boys and 30 girls was chosen, and hand-wrist radiographs and lateral cephalograms were obtained. Cervical vertebral bone age (CVBA) was determined by applying the formula derived. Bone age was also calculated using the Tanner-Whitehouse 3 method. The bone ages determined by both methods were compared to each other and chronological age, using one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc analysis, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The formulae derived in the current study to determine CVBA differed for both genders. No statistically significant difference was found between CVBA, bone age derived by the Tanner-Whitehouse 3 method, and chronological age for both boys (p value = 0.425) and girls (p value = 0.995). A moderate to strong positive correlation was found between CVBA, bone age, and chronological age. The formulae derived in this study were validated and are reliable for objectively determining cervical vertebral bone age and skeletal maturation from lateral cephalograms for Asian South Indian patients of both genders.

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客观评估颈椎骨年龄的公式的开发和验证

颈椎骨的骨骼成熟度和骨龄的测定已被充分证明。所描述的大多数方法都使用主观评估颈椎形态特征的方法，可能易于变异和出错。还开发了一些针对特定人群和性别的客观方法。这项研究的目的是建立和验证一种客观的方法，用于从侧面头颅X线照片确定亚裔南印度裔男性和女性患者的颈椎骨年龄。招募了9名年龄在9至15岁之间的90名男孩和90名女孩，并拍摄了他们的侧脑波图。使用对第三和第四颈椎进行的测量，使用逐步回归分析得出确定颈椎骨年龄的公式。为了验证公式，分别选择了30名男孩和30名女孩的样本，并获得了手腕X线照片和头侧位X线照片。通过应用推导的公式确定颈椎骨年龄（CVBA）。还使用Tanner-Whitehouse 3方法计算了骨龄。使用单向方差分析，Tukey事后分析和Pearson相关系数，将两种方法确定的骨龄和年龄进行了比较。在当前研究中得出的用于确定CVBA的公式对于两种性别都是不同的。在男孩（p值= 0.425）和女孩（p值= 0.995）的CVBA，通过Tanner-Whitehouse 3方法得出的骨龄和按时间顺序排列的年龄之间均无统计学差异。在CVBA，骨龄和时间年龄之间发现了中度到强正相关。