Visual Assessment of Cervical Vertebral Maturation Stages: A Study of Diagnostic Accuracy and Repeatability

Khanum A, Kalia A, Nene S, Mirdeghan N, Joshi J and Mithani R

Published on: 2019-12-26

Abstract

Background: Treatment during periods of accelerated or intensive growth can contribute significantly to correction of dent facial deviations and improvement of facial appearance. Treatment planning and retention decision are influenced by amount of remaining growth, necessitating a need to accurately assess level of skeletal maturity. Out of the various methods available to assess the growth status the latest method by Biscotti et al is further simplified to include only second through fourth vertebrae so that it can be useful even with a protective collar.

Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and repeatability of the visual assessment of the cervical vertebral maturation.

Methodology: This study consisting of 100 randomly selected patients seeking orthodontic treatment. A total of 10 operators underwent training session in visual assessment of CVM staging using a series of cases analyzed cephalometrically. Subsequently, they were asked to assign stage in different set of cases at baseline (T₁) and again after 4 weeks (T₂). The outcomes of these sessions were compared with the reference standards (objective analysis) and for diagnostic accuracy.

Results: Overall for all CVM Stages, T₁ session had 80% agreement and T₂ session of assessment had 88.3% agreement; a total of 12 scans (20%) in T₁ and 7 scans (11.7%) in T₂ sessions showed disagreement.

Conclusion: The study concluded that the visual assessment of CVM method to be accurate and repeatable.