Comparison of classical methods for bone age determination with Capitohamate planimetry on wrist X-rays

This study aims to compare the Greulich-Pyle (GP) and Tanner-Whitehouse 2 (TW2) methods, both used in left wrist radiography for bone age determination in the pediatric age group, with the Capitohamatum method (CH) due to the importance of determining bone age in the pediatric period.

Direct radiographs of 210 female and 291 male individuals between the ages of 0-15 without any pathology in the left wrist bones were obtained; 501 os capitatum and os hamatum on anterior-to-posterior direct graphic images were measured using the GP, TW2, and CH planimetry methods. The estimated age of each measurement was calculated by evaluating the relationship between chronological age and sex.

In male individuals, it was determined that the estimates obtained using the GP method were, on average, 5.1 units lower than the actual ages; the estimates obtained with the TW2 method were, on average, 1.7 units higher than the actual ages. In the female individuals, age estimations obtained by the GP and TW2 methods were 1.4 and 0.5 units lower, respectively, than the chronological ages. It was determined that the ages estimated by the CH method were almost the same as the chronological ages, with no deviation in the estimation method.

According to the study findings, it was concluded that the CH method can be used reliably with high accuracy for chronological age determination of children as an alternative estimation method to the GP and TW2 atlases.