A Study on the Skeletal Development of Korean Children, Part I: The Hand and Wrist

The authors surveyed the skeletal maturity of the hands and wrists of 1.268 Korean Children from 7 to 19 years of age. The assessment was made by using the hand atlas from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics supplemented by that of Greulich and Pyle. Following observations are made: 1. The median values of the ages of the onset and completion of ossification in the hand and wrist are shown in Table 1. The mean skeletal ages are also shown in Tables 2 and 3. 2. The correlations between the chronological ages and the skeletal ages of these children are presented in Figures 2 and 3. 3. As compared with the standard American children, there was some delay (by 1 to 2 years) in the onset of ossification, but the completion of ossification was almost the same or slightly delayed in Korean children. 4. The onset of ossification and the maturity of thirty ossification centers of the hand and wrist were so widely distributed that there were many out of line centers at the prepuberal period. The range of skeletal ages was also so varied that there were large standard deviations at that period. 5. The factors affecting the skeletal development are considered to be either genetic or environmental, or both. It is postulated that what appears to have been a racial difference in the skeletal maturity may in fact be an environmental one. 6. The authors have concluded that, for all practical purposes. “A Radiographic Standard of Reference for the Growing Hand and Wrist” prepared for the U.S. National Health Examination Suryvey is a reasonably accurate standard equally applicable for Korean children and recommend its use in this country.