Stature of caucasian elderly estimated by scapula length from chest X-ray

Stature is an important biological characteristic considered in the clinical activities. Height (h)is frequently hard to measure in the elderly population or in people with skeletal deformities and vertebral fractures. Furthermore it represents also a key point in forensic evaluations. Our aim was to provide an equation in order to predict human height based on the Longitudinal Scapular Diameter(LSD) measured through a Chest X-ray (CX) in an elderly Italian population. We enrolled 60 patients (age > 65 years) who underwent a standard CX. An average LSD was obtained on the basis of the measurements of left and right scapula. Stature was measured in standard conditions by a calibrated stadiometer in all patients. A linear predictive model was employed to estimate stature by LSD. The predictive equation for stature estimation [cm] from LSD [cm] was: h=2.969*LSD+116.7. The linear regression was significant (p <; 0.01) and the correlation coefficient was 0.75. In order to assess the performance of the proposed model, we compared our results with the values obtained in the same population with a largely employed approach, i.e., the Chumlea's method. Considering the whole population, the mean error using LSD equation was 4.4 cm vs 4.6 cm from Chumlea's. The proposed linear relationship between human height and LSD measured by CX can be considered valid in elderly patients, showing comparable results to the Chumlea's method.