title: Normal length changes in hand bones during adulthood: exploratory study of ray two.
abstract: A longitudinal analysis was made of total length changes of the four epiphyseal bones of ray two, the index finger, during adulthood. Matched pairs of standardized hand-wrist radiographs on 37 individuals between earlier (means = 22 years) and later (means = 54 years) adult age-grades show that the distal and middle phalanges continue to increase in overall length; the proximal phalange exhibits no change; and the metacarpal significantly decreases in size. The changes in these normal adults are also discernible in cross-sectional data but are not obvious statistically. Causes of the specific increases and decreases remain speculative.
authors: Department of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Tennessee, Memphis.
authors: R G
authors: RG
authors: Behrents
authors: E F
authors: EF
authors: Harris
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000502:physiology*; D002348:Carpal Bones / Q000254:growth & development; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors