Determining skeletal maturation using insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) test
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Published on: January 29, 2018
Shreya Gupta1, Sandhya Jain, Puneet Gupta
1Department of Orthodontics, Government College of Dentistry, Indore (M.P.), India. drshreyagupta@gmail.com
Objective:
To investigate the validity of Insulin like Growth Factor -1(IGF-1) as a skeletal maturity indicator by comparing serum IGF-1 levels with the stages in cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) and in the middle phalanx of the third finger (MP3).
Materials And Methods:
The study population was selected by using simple random sampling technique and consisted of 30 female subjects in the age range of 8-23 years who had blood sample, cephalometric and MP3 radiographs taken on the same day. Serum IGF-I estimation was carried out on the blood samples using chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) method. CVM was evaluated using method by Baccetti et al and MP3 staging was done using Rajagopal & Kansal method. Mean IGF-1 level between the stages was compared by Kruskal-Wallis and Mann Whitney test.
Results:
Serum IGF-1 levels in females correlate well with skeletal maturity determined by CVM and MP3 stages and increase sharply during early pubertal stages followed by a decrease in late puberty. In addition we hypothesis that serum IGF-1 testing can be undertaken as a preliminary screening test in patients in whom the orthodontist predicts the possibility of using myofunctional appliance but in whom the chronologic age is not suggestive for a growth modification therapy.
Conclusions:
The finding of the study highlights the fact that the serum IGF-1 estimation can be a valuable tool in assessing skeletal maturation.
