Hong Kong Med J 2007;13(Suppl 3):S28-32
Are western skeletal age standards applicable to the Hong Kong Chinese population? A comparison of the Greulich and Pyle method and the Tanner and Whitehouse method
JF Griffith, JCY Cheng, E Wong
Department of Diagnostic Radiology and
Organ Imaging. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
1. Reference standards serve only as an estimation of skeletal age. Considerable physiological variation in hand and wrist bone maturation exists and therefore bone age estimates should not be applied too rigidly.
2. There is reasonable concordance between the Tanner and Whitehouse (TW3) [carpal score or radius, ulna, shortbone (RUS) score] standards and Greulich and Pyle (G&P) standards across the applicable age range.
3. The most notable deviation is that G&P standards tend to underestimate chronological age (by about 1 year) for boys aged 3 to 8 years.
4. The current practice of using G&P or RUS skeletal age standards to assess bone age in Hong Kong should continue. Greater accuracy could be achieved by adjusting designated G&P or RUS standards for different agegroups and genders.
2. There is reasonable concordance between the Tanner and Whitehouse (TW3) [carpal score or radius, ulna, shortbone (RUS) score] standards and Greulich and Pyle (G&P) standards across the applicable age range.
3. The most notable deviation is that G&P standards tend to underestimate chronological age (by about 1 year) for boys aged 3 to 8 years.
4. The current practice of using G&P or RUS skeletal age standards to assess bone age in Hong Kong should continue. Greater accuracy could be achieved by adjusting designated G&P or RUS standards for different agegroups and genders.