Abstract

Introduction: The major disadvantage in cervical vertebral maturation stages (CVMS) is the involvement of radiographic exposure and inability to determine the exact timing of growth spurt.
Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the applicability of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) blood level as a maturation indicator by correlating it to the CVMS.
Material & Methods: This study was conducted at orthodontic department of our institute. Out of 75 patients, 47 (62.7%) were males and 28 (37.3%) were females. The mean ages of the patients were 12.5 ± 2.6 years. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was performed to evaluate the blood serum IGF-1 levels among five stages of CVMS.
Results: There was a statistically considerable difference in mean IGF-1 among five stages of CVM. The mean IGF-1 (ng/ml) of CVMS 1 was 204.9 ± 21.1, mean IGF-1 of CVMS II was 272.5 ± 39.5, mean IGF-1 of CVMS III was 343.1 ± 38.6, mean IGF-1 of CVMS IV was 287.7 ± 22.3 and mean IGF-1 of CVMS V was 171.5 ± 24.5. The highest mean values were observed in stage III followed by stage IV, II, I and V. IGF-1 levels were maximum in females at CVM stage 3 and were maximum in male at CVM 4.
Conclusion: IGF-1 levels at the pubertal stage were significantly higher than the pre-pubertal and post-pubertal stages. IGF-1 levels might prove to be a valuable skeletal maturity indicator.

Key words: CVM; Skeeltal maturity; Orthodontics