Relative utility of carpal skeletal ages.

The need to assess the carpal bones when a skeletal age is being obtained for a handwrist radiograph has been determined. The mixed longitudinal data that were analyzed had been obtained from 335 boys and 322 girls at 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, and 16 years of age. The FELS assessment method, which was used to obtain the skeletal ages, provides the standard error of each assessment; each of these standard errors is determined by the amount of relevant information available from a radiograph. Utilizing the standard errors for paired assessments made with and without the inclusion of the carpal bones, it was concluded that the carpal bones should be assessed from 7 to 13 years in boys and from 4 to 10 years in girls, but they need not be assessed before or after these age ranges.