Which carpal bone is the LAST to show ossification, making its appearance a useful marker that a child has reached approximately 10 to 12 years of age?
- A Hamate
- B Trapezium
- C Pisiform ✓
- D Scaphoid
Correct answer: C. Pisiform
Explanation
The pisiform is the last carpal bone to ossify, appearing at about 10 to 12 years of age. Capitate and hamate are the first carpals to ossify, appearing at two to three months of life. Scaphoid, trapezium and trapezoid appear later in childhood, roughly between four and six years, but well before the pisiform. This sequence makes the pisiform a convenient endpoint marker in wrist-based skeletal age assessment of older children.
Reference: Gray's Anatomy, 42nd ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.