Estimation of Fetal Age and Weight from Radiographie Skull Diameters in the Rhesus Monkey

Abstract

In utero radiographic measurements of the skull of a rhesus monkey fetus provide estimates of conceptual age and body weight with about a 6% and 15% error of estimate, respectively.

Skeletal Age as a Determinant of Gestation in Macaca mulatta

“…The surgical insult of feto‐maternal system by serial uterotomies did not effect the normal course of pregnancy or the fetus itself. The body weight as well as the skeletal age of our fetal population were comparable to previously reported data [2, 17, 20, 21].…”

“…The pioneering work of Todd in 1937 [19] resulted in establishment of growth standards of reference for child postnatal development [4, 15]. These fundamental human data stimulated many studies of skeletal development in other species including nonhuman primates [1–3, 5, 7, 13, 14, 18].…”

Estimation of Gestational and Skeletal Age in Macaco mulatta

“…In spite of this significant acceleration of growth, great similarities were observed in the mode of bone maturation and sequence of ossification in the hand of the M. mulatta and in the human wrist (7, 9, 15, 26, 28, 29, 35). The pioneering work of Van Wagenen and her associates in the late fifties, and more recent studies (1, 3, 4, 6, 10–12, 14, 24) carried out on nonhuman primates, indicated that the best criterion for age estimation is appendicular bone maturation. The ossification and fusion of carpal and metacarpal bones prove to be among the most accurate criteria.…”