Assessment of skeletal maturation of igna children during the years of sanctions

ABSTRACT

To study the skeletal maturation and appearance of ossification centers in Iraqi children after six years of embargo. Eight hundred fifty five children [441 boys and 414 girls] of ages of 1 month to 13 years, from kindergartens and schools, during the periods June 1995- June 1996, were submitted to radiography of the hand and wrist. A comparison of the films was made with a previous study done in Iraq in 1990, and with other studies conducted in USA. East Africa, and other countries. A great delay was found in skeletal maturation reaching up to two years behind that found in an Iraqi study before the sanctions. A delay of about one year behind US children, and almost equal to that of a East Africa. We believe the cause of the delay is multi factorial, and may be at least partially related to the poor nutritional status of children brought on by the embargo