Korean J Orthod.  2009 Feb;39(1):28-35. 10.4041/kjod.2009.39.1.28.

Maturation of cervical vertebrae in relation to menarche

• Lee JH
• Kang YG
• Lee KS
• Nam JH

• KMID: 1469136
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4041/kjod.2009.39.1.28

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between menarche and cervical vertebral maturation.
METHODS
Lateral cephalograms of 67 young korean girls within the range of 1 year before or after their menarche were gathered. The concavity of the cervical vertebrae base and the ratio of the base length to the 3rd and 4th cervical vertebrae anterior height were measured and analyzed.
RESULTS
The mean measured values were as follows; concavity of the 3rd cervical vertebrae base: 1.27 (+/- 0.18) mm, concavity of the 4th cervical vertebrae base: 1.06 (+/- 0.15) mm, ratio of the base length to the 3rd cervical vertebrae anterior height: 0.73 (+/- 0.06) and ratio of the base length to the 4th cervical vertebrae anterior height: 0.70 (+/- 0.05). There was a significant increase in the ratio of the base length to the 3rd vertebrae anterior height and the base concavity of the 3rd and 4th cervical vertebrae during the period of 1 year before to 1 year after their menarche.
CONCLUSIONS
These characteristics of the 3rd and 4th cervical vertebrae on the lateral cephalogram can provide useful clues on evaluating the growth stage.

Keyword

Lateral cephalogram; Cervical vertebrae; Menarche

MeSH Terms

Cervical Vertebrae
Female
Menarche
Spine

Figure

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  Fig 1 Method of measuring the concavity of the cervical vertebrae: distance from the tangent line of the base to the deepest point.

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  Fig 2 Method of measuring the base and the anterior height of the cervical vertebrae.

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  Fig 3 Average curve of the concavity of the cervical vertebrae. The same abbreviation as Table 2.

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  Fig 4 Average curve of the ratio between the length of the base and the anterior height. The same abbreviation as Table 2.

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