Urschler Martin, Krauskopf Astrid, Widek Thomas, Sorantin Erich, Ehammer Thomas, Borkenstein Martin, Yen Kathrin, Scheurer Eva
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Clinical Forensic Imaging, Universitätsplatz 4, 8010 Graz, Austria; Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision, Graz University of Technology, Inffeldgasse 16, 8010 Graz, Austria; BioTechMed-Graz, Austria.
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Clinical Forensic Imaging, Universitätsplatz 4, 8010 Graz, Austria.
Forensic Sci Int. 2016 Sep;266:281-288. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.06.016. Epub 2016 Jun 17.
Determination of skeletal development is a key pillar in forensic age estimation of living persons. Radiological assessment of hand bone age is widely used until the age of about 17-18 years, applying visual grading techniques to hand radiographs. This study investigated whether Greulich-Pyle (GP) and Tanner-Whitehouse (TW2) grading can be equally used for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, which would offer the huge benefit of avoiding ionizing radiation. In 18 subjects aged between 7 and 17 years a radiograph and an MRI scan of the hand were performed. Epiphyseal ossification of hand bones was rated by two blinded radiologists with both GP and TW2. Correlation between hand MRIs and radiographs was analyzed by linear regression and inter-observer agreement was assessed. Correlation between age estimates from MRI and radiographs was high for both GP (r(2)=0.98) and TW2 (r(2)=0.93). MRI showed a tendency to estimate age slightly lower for 14-18 year-olds, which would be favorable regarding majority age determination in case this result could be reproduced using a currently not existing reference estimation method based on MRI data. Inter-observer agreement was similar for GP in radiographs and MRI, while for TW2, agreement in MRI was lower than in radiographs. In spite of limitations regarding sample size and recruited subjects, our results indicate that the use of GP and TW2 on MRI data offers the possibility of hand bone age estimation without the need for ionizing radiation.
骨骼发育的测定是活体法医年龄估计的关键支柱。在大约17 - 18岁之前，手部骨龄的放射学评估广泛应用，对手部X光片采用视觉分级技术。本研究调查了格吕利希 - 派尔（Greulich - Pyle，GP）和坦纳 - 怀特豪斯（Tanner - Whitehouse，TW2）分级是否能同样用于磁共振成像（MRI）数据，这将带来避免电离辐射的巨大益处。对18名年龄在7至17岁之间的受试者进行了手部X光片和MRI扫描。两名盲法放射科医生使用GP和TW2对手部骨骼的骨骺骨化进行评级。通过线性回归分析手部MRI与X光片之间的相关性，并评估观察者间的一致性。对于GP（r(2)=0.98）和TW2（r(2)=0.93），MRI与X光片的年龄估计之间的相关性都很高。对于14 - 18岁的人群，MRI显示出略微低估年龄的趋势，如果使用基于MRI数据的当前不存在的参考估计方法能够重现这一结果，那么在确定多数年龄方面将是有利的。在X光片和MRI中，GP的观察者间一致性相似，而对于TW2，MRI中的一致性低于X光片。尽管在样本量和招募对象方面存在局限性，但我们的结果表明，在MRI数据上使用GP和TW2提供了无需电离辐射即可估计手部骨龄的可能性。
