ASSESSMENT OF SKELETAL MATURATION USING THE CERVICAL VERTEBRA MATURATION METHOD AND ITS CORRELATION TO CHRONOLOGICAL AGE AND GENDER. A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Objective: The aim of the study was to find out the relationship between ‘chronological age and skeletal maturation’ and ‘gender and skeletal maturation. Materials and Methods: The lateral cephalometric radiographs of 103 patients of age ranging from 8-18 years, both genders were taken. Cervical vertebrae maturation (CVM) method was used to determine development stages and its co-relation with the chronological age and gender of the patient. For corelation between the chronological age and developmental age, Spearman rank order correlation coefficient was used. And Fishers exact test was used to determine the correlation between gender and developmental stage. Results: Spearman rank order correlation coefficient was 0.835, between chronological age and cervical vertebral maturation stages. Fishers exact test was found to be significant i.e. p=0.02 between gender and CVM stage. In males the stage 2 of cervical vertebrae stages were the most frequent followed by stage 1. Stage 4 followed by stage 1 in females were the most frequent stages. Conclusion: A statistically significant correlation between chronological age and cervical vertebral maturation stages along with the gender and cervical vertebral maturation stages was concluded. The pubertal growth spurt (i.e. CVM 2 and CVM 3) occupies the age group of 10-14 years.