The evaluation of the correlation in age detection according to Gök, Greulich-Pyle and Gilsanz-Ratib atlas from hand and wrist x-ray in Turkish children aged 15-18 born in Gaziantep

Age determination, which is an important factor in the identification of individuals identies, is one of the crucial subjects in Forensic Medicine and law. Age determination is carried out for forensic, legal, and social reasons due to the irregular maintenance of population records. Radiological, morphological, and histological methods are commonly used in age determination. The geographical, racial, economic, and sociodemographic differences among societies necessitate the methods used to be specific to the particular communitty. The correlation between the widely used Greulich-Pyle Atlas, Gök Atlas, and Gilsanz-Ratib Atlas was evaluated based on hand and wrist radiographs of a total of 400 Turkish individuals, consisting of 200 girls and 200 boys between the ages of 15 and 18. It was found that Gök Atlas yielded results with variation of -0,38/+1,02 years in girls and -0,87/+0,35 years in boys; Greulich-Pyle Atlas yielded variations of -0,67/+0,70 years in girls and -0,28/+0,80 years in boys; Gilsanz-Ratib Atlas yielded variations of -0,39/+0,88 years in girls and -0,25/+0,38 years in boys. Considering the concentration of bone age distrubition among the atlases compared to chronological age, it was concluded that a specific age determination atlas should be established for our society, taking into account its geographical, racial, genetic, and sociocultural characteristics.