title: [Clinical survey of the association between age and maturation of cervical vertebra in 216 adolescents in Shanghai municipality].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between age and maturation of cervical vertebra in 216 adolescents in Shanghai municipality.
  
  
  METHODS
  216 adolescents from 10 to 20 years old were investigated by lateral cephalometric radiographs. The growth status and the relationship of C2- C5 cervical vertebra were evaluated by SAS 6.12 software package with Fisher's test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The shapes of cervical vertebra bodies varied in regular manner. Although female went into the young quick growing period 2 years earlier than male, the shape changes had no significant difference between gender.The beginning and the peak of the puberty spurt was with great individual diversity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The morphological variation of cervical vertebra can be used as an indicator of skeletal age to determine adolescents' growth and development status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology, Shanghai Dahua Hospital .Shanghai 200237, China.E-mail:chendp29@yahoo.com.cn.
authors.forename: Jian-qing
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Dan-peng
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002508:Cephalometry; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D055815:Young Adult