DETERMINATION OF SKELETAL MATURITY BY ULTRASOUND - A PRELIMINARY-REPORT

Objective. Replacement of radiography by sonography for determination of skeletal maturity. Design. Sonographic and radiographic evaluation of the maturation of the iliac bone apophysis (Risser's sign) and eval uation of the distal radial epiphyses.Patients. 64 children and adoles cents with idiopathic scoliosis, aged from 5 to 19 years. Results. Son ograms with corresponding radiographs were available for the hand and wrist in 36 cases and for the iliac bone in 28 cases. Comparison of so nographic with radiological data revealed sonography to have a sensiti vity for qualifying the status of the distal radial epiphysis of 93.1% . Specificity was 100%, accuracy 94.4% for investigation of the distal radial epiphysis. Overall accuracy for correct determination of Risse r's stage by ultrasound (in comparison with the radiographic standard) was 89.2%. Conclusions. These findings suggest that ultrasound is a u seful and highly acceptable tool for bone age determination in clinica l routine or screening studies and will help to reduce ionizing radiat ion to children and adolescents.