How to measure bone age? Is the bone age test credible?

Bone age is the abbreviation of bone age, which is determined by the specific image of bone in X-ray photography. Usually, X-rays are taken from the left wrist of a person. Doctors can determine the bone age by observing the development of the ossification center of the phalanx, wrist and lower radioulna of the left palm by X-ray. The changes of human skeleton development are basically similar, and the development process of each skeleton has continuity and stages. Different stages of bones have different morphological characteristics, so bone age assessment can accurately reflect the growth and maturity of individuals. Not only can the biological age of children be determined, but also the growth potential and sexual maturity trend of children can be understood as soon as possible through the bone age. It can also predict the adult height of children, and the determination of bone age is also very helpful for the diagnosis of some pediatric endocrine diseases. Bone age was first used in medicine to study and measure the growth and development of children, and then it was widely used to determine the actual age of athletes to determine their qualifications. In recent years, the method of bone age identification has been more and more widely used in the judicial process and plays a very important role. First, the child is short, with the same bone age and life span, which is considered as normal development; Second, the child's bone age is less than the living age, indicating that the child's growth and development is abnormal, and the reasons for this abnormality are various. After determining the cause, you can prescribe the right medicine. The main manifestations are short stature, such as primary dwarfism, familial dwarfism, intrauterine growth retardation and adolescent physical growth retardation. It is difficult to distinguish clinically. Determining bone age, predicting adult height and combining with medical history are helpful for diagnosis. Primary dwarfism and familial dwarfism have normal bone age, and the predicted adult height is low, but the predicted adult height of familial dwarfism children is within the genetic height range; Intrauterine growth retardation, low bone age and short adult height. Combined with medical history, it can be diagnosed in early childhood. The skeletal age of constitutional adolescents with growth retardation is backward, and the skeletal age is basically the same as the height age. The predicted value of adult height is not low.