Elbow Ossification Centers

David Wang MD PhD, Anish Ghodadra MD, Robert Rasmussen, Sameh Tadros MD, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA

The ages at which the elbow ossification centers appear are highly variable. There is marked gender difference with girls developing up to 2 years before boys. However, the order of appearance of the ossification centers is highly reliable and follows the CRITOE mnemonic: Capitulum, Radial head, medial (Internal) epicondyle, Trochlea, Olecranon, and lateral (External) epicondyle. Pay attention to the appearance and maturation of the normal ossification centers as you scroll through the images below.

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*Each image in this exhibit represents a unique patient radiographed at CHP of UPMC between 07/01/12 and 06/30/13