Health Survey of Children From Rarotonga, Cook Islands: Iii. Skeletal Age and Skeletal Observations

A radiographic study was made of the left fifth medial phalanges of 200 Philadelphia Negro and 96 Chinese children. Twelve cases of abnormal shortening of this bone (defined, for the present, as less than half the length of the fourth medial phalanx) were found in the Chinese sample, while none were found in the Negroes. This trait, brachymesophalangy 5, in general seems to be characterized by short but well proportioned diaphyses and cone‐shaped epiphyses with very early union. Population surveys reported in the literature indicate that this trait is considerably more common in Mongoloid and American Indian populations than in Whites or Negroes. The mode of inheritance of this genetic trait is uncertain, but present evidence indicates that it may be a simple autosomal recessive.

Shortened fifth medial phalanges

Hertzog

1967

Maturation disparity between hand‐wrist bones in Hong Kong Chinese children

Lee

1971

The hand-wrist radiographs of 571 Chinese boys and girls from Hong Kong, 2 months to 17 years old, were assessed centerby-center according to the Greulich-Pyle Atlas. For each child the mean skeletal ages (SA) of six bone groups with each group consisting of bones from the same rows, were recorded. The overall SA was also obtained as the arithmetic mean of all centers.Maturation disparity between the various bone groups was demonstrated with the two proximal rows (distal radio-ulna, carpals) more retarded, the two distal rows (middle and distal phalanges) less retarded, and the two middle rows (metacarpals, proximal phalanges) intermediate in maturity. This disparity was especially pronounced during the childhood period and was more marked in boys. Recording SA of separate bone groups in addition to the overall SA was recommended in the presence of significant maturation disparity.The comparison of the present results with the ossification ages of the various hand-wrist centers in the same group of children determined in a previous study (Lee et al., '68) revealed that the less retarded hand epiphyses of the distal rows had precocious ossification timing, while the more retarded centers of the proximal rows around the wrist had delayed ossscation timing relative to the American white children.

Brachymesophalangia V in Hottentot and “Cape Colored” children in Namibia (South West Africa) and South Africa

Singer

Kimura

Gajisin

1980

In order to determine the incidence of Brachymesophalangia V, an inspectional and metrical analysis was made of radiographs of 67 Nama-speaking Hottentots aged 2 to 17.5 years, and 210 Rehoboth Basters (in Namibia) and Cape Colored children (near Cape Town) aged 1.5 to 21 years. None of the children displayed cone-shaped epiphysis or early union, and none showed Brachymesophalangia V. It was confirmed that the incidence of Brachymesophalangia V is considerably higher in Mongoloid populations than in Caucasoid or Negroid groups, including Hottentots.