Hand MRI and the Greulich-Pyle atlas in skeletal age estimation in adolescents

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the feasibility of hand MRI in age assessment in adolescents using the Greulich-Pyle (GP) atlas criteria.Materials and methodsTwo radiologists, who were blinded to the study subjects’ chronologic ages, semi-objectively evaluated 1.5-T MRIs of the left hands of ten patients (13.5 ± 2.6 years) who had left-hand radiographs and 50 healthy volunteers (15 ± 2 years).ResultsA coronal T1-weighted, volumetric, interpolated, breath-hold examination with water excitation (T1 VIBE-3D-WE) achieved the best image quality. The correlation between estimated patients’ ages on radiographs and MRI was high. The average estimated age difference between the MRIs and radiographs was −0.05 years for reader 1 and −0.175 years for reader 2. The interclass coefficients (ICCs) showed high interobserver agreement (radiographs: ICC = 0.95, MRI: ICC = 0.97). The ICC, calculated separately for the male and female volunteers’ estimated ages by MRI, also showed a high agreement between the two readers (male: ICC = 0.97, female: ICC = 0.95). Reader 1 estimated 94% of volunteers within 2 standard deviations (SD) and 62% within 1 SD. The results for reader 2 were 92% and 54%, respectively. Thirty-nine percent of girls and 27% of boys were estimated to be older using 1 SD.ConclusionMRI of the left hand is a feasible alternative to hand radiographs for skeletal age estimation in adolescents using the GP criteria with 2 SD. Using 1 SD, the age of healthy volunteers tended to be estimated as higher than the chronologic age. Future studies should evaluate the results in a larger number of participants.

Automated Bone Age Assessment Using Artificial Intelligence: The Future of Bone Age Assessment

“…While studies have attempted to assess bone age using ultrasound and MRI, the validation process remains incomplete [ 20 21 ]. Moreover, bone age assessments using left hand radiographs are less expensive than ultrasound and MRI.…”

Magnetic resonance imaging for forensic age estimation in living children and young adults: a systematic review

“…Furthermore, the small study samples resulted in an uneven distribution among age categories [2, 16, 19, 22, 25, 26, 29, 33, 35, 39-41, 43-46, 53, 61, 62, 69-76], or frequencies per age were not reported [23]. Retrospective studies did not report the biological origin of the population, while some prospective studies included different ethnic groups [2,35,44], or only a few individuals of another ethnic group [53]. Moreover, few studies reported the socio-economic status of their study participants.…”

Applicability of Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Bone Age Estimation in the Context of Medical Issues

“…Es ergab sich eine Korrelation nach Pearson für die T1-VIBE von 0,986 und für die T1-TSE von 0,982 (▶ Abb. 3A, B [12,24].…”

“…Anzumerken ist, dass in den meisten Studien die konventionelle GP-Methode mit der Auswahl des am besten passenden Standards verwendet wurde und es hier mehr exakte Übereinstimmungen zwischen verschiedenen Beobachtern gibt im Vergleich zu der in der vorliegenden Studie verwendeten ROI-Methode. Nichtsdestotrotz sind die vorliegenden Ergebnisse verglichen mit den Interrater-Korrelationen anderer Studien als gleich gut bis sehr gut anzusehen [21,22,24].…”