As vértebras cervicais na determinação da idade óssea

Abstract

For decades it was realized that there is no significant correlation between chronological age and bone age. Since then, many methods have been used for the determination of bone age. These methods include the observation of secondary sexual characteristics, dental development, height, weight and skeletal development. The hand-wrist radiography is an important method to determine whether the pubertal growth spurt started, ended or is occurring. This is very important in the orthodontic planning and treatment. Radiographs of the cervical vertebrae have shown similar efficiency to hand-wrist radiographs, and avoid making an extra X-rays, thus avoiding extra radiation, and reduce the cost to the patient. This study aims to present a review of the literature on the subject. It was concluded that the radiographic analysis of cervical vertebrae maturation method has proved to be a valid, reliable, reproducible and clinically applicable to determine bone age, thus avoiding extra radiation and extra cost to the patient.