Oh Yoonjin, Lee Rena, Kim Hae Soon
Department of Medical Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.
J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2012;25(3-4):279-84. doi: 10.1515/jpem-2012-0028.
The growth assessment of bone age (BA) is an essential feature in diagnosing various diseases in children. In the clinic, the Tanner and Whitehouse (TW3) method and the Greulich-Pyle (GP) method are used to estimate bone age. Because those methods were developed for foreign children, it is necessary to evaluate the applicability of those methods to Koreans.
This study was designed (1) to compare the skeletal maturity score (SMS) in Koreans to the SMS in foreign children, and (2) to establish a correlation between the BA and chronological age (CA) on the basis of gender and age in normal Korean children.
We estimated the SMS and BA for 378 healthy children (141 boys and 237 girls) who visited the pediatrics clinic in Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital (Seoul, Korea) from 2000 to 2009. The SMS and BA were estimated using the TW3 and GP methods.
The SMS in Koreans was higher than in foreign children, and on average, the BA measured by both methods was higher than the CA. The correlation between the BA and CA were different according to gender and age.
We suggest that there are differences between the SMS in Korean and foreign children and between the BA and CA. Therefore, the results can be used in evaluating the skeletal maturity of Koreans, and a correlation between the BA and CA would be a useful reference in diagnosis.
骨龄（BA）的生长评估是诊断儿童各种疾病的一项重要特征。在临床上，使用坦纳和怀特豪斯（TW3）法以及格吕利希-派尔（GP）法来估计骨龄。由于这些方法是针对外国儿童开发的，因此有必要评估这些方法对韩国人的适用性。
本研究旨在（1）比较韩国儿童与外国儿童的骨骼成熟度评分（SMS），以及（2）基于韩国正常儿童的性别和年龄建立骨龄与实足年龄（CA）之间的相关性。
我们对2000年至2009年期间在梨花女子大学木洞医院（韩国首尔）儿科门诊就诊的378名健康儿童（141名男孩和237名女孩）进行了SMS和BA评估。使用TW3法和GP法评估SMS和BA。
韩国儿童的SMS高于外国儿童，并且平均而言，两种方法测得的BA均高于CA。BA与CA之间的相关性因性别和年龄而异。
我们认为韩国儿童与外国儿童的SMS之间以及BA与CA之间存在差异。因此，这些结果可用于评估韩国人的骨骼成熟度，并且BA与CA之间的相关性在诊断中将是一个有用的参考。
