Time of fusion for the epiphyses of the hand and wrist bones

ABSTRACT

A radiographic study about the time of fusion for the epiphyses of the hand and wrist bones was carried out at Shaikh Zayed Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lahore during 1990-91. Four hundred and two Pakistani children of average middle class aged 12.5 to 18 years were examined. The females were 1.5 to 2 years advanced as compared to the males in their fusion time. All the epiphyses of the hand including wrist showed the fusion at an average age of 16 years in females and 18 years in males. It was found that the time of fusion was 1-3 years earlier in our children as compared to most of the European and African countries. However, it was slightly late or nearly correlated with those of American and Bengali children