Radiological investigation of the effect of age at menarche on proximal femoral development: a radioanatomical study

Abstract

Background: This retrospective study investigated the relationship between age at menarche and bilateral proximal femoral development in women using morphometric measurements. Materials and methods: Radiographic images of 120 women aged 18-40 years who presented to the Department of Radiology at Siirt Training and Research Hospital were evaluated. The women were divided into three groups based on age at menarche: early (<= 12), normal (13-15), and late (>= 16). Proximal femoral development on the right and left sides was assessed using 10 morphometric measurements, together with body height. Results: A statistically significant difference in height was found among the age-at-menarche groups, with women in the late menarche group exhibiting greater height. No statistically significant differences in proximal femoral morphometric measurements were detected among the groups (p > 0.05); however, numerical differences were observed between the right and left sides. Conclusions: The results indicate that age at menarche is associated with height but not with proximal femoral morphometry. This suggests that proximal femoral anatomy is influenced by multiple biological factors independent of age at menarche. Furthermore, anatomical differences and variations related to sex, age, genetics, and ethnicity occur throughout the human body. Therefore, population-specific reference values are important. Our study contributes additional information to the literature, particularly because no comparable study has previously been reported.