A Retrospective Observational Study of Appearance and Fusion of Ossification Centres in Lower Limb Radiographs of Patients Reported in the Tertiary Health Care Centre

Abstract

Bone ossification study is the most important part of age determination. Earlier studies were predominantly done on upper limb bones & joints; hence this bone ossification study of lower limb bones gives the opportunity to correlate earlier findings with the present study. A Retrospective cross-sectional study has been done in order to study bone ossification patterns in western Maharashtra. Lower limb radiographs of patients of the age group ranging from 1 month - 25 years reported from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2020 at the tertiary hospital were studied for appearance and fusion of ossification centres. Out of 429 patients, 236 were male and 193 females. Cases were divided joint-wise into two groups for appearance & fusion study. Age of appearance & fusions compared with Gaulstaun's chart & other studies, which are found mostly similar with some variations of 1-2 years attributed to region & sex of the individual. Complete fusion of epiphysis is a more accurate indicator of age than the stage of fusion. In general, females show appearance & fusion of ossification centres, 1-2 years earlier although with some exceptions. We recommend more such studies be undertaken, region-wise with more sample size.