Prospective study of infants with low height or slow growth
Abstract
Background: growth is a health indicator in children. Low height is a frequent pediatric problem that needs to determine whether there is or not a subtle disease. In 1996, an interdisciplinary team was created to increase the assistance for those children, at the Pereira Rossell Hospital (Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell).
Objective: to describe clinical categories of children with low height or slow growth, using a study algorithm previously determined.
Methods: elegible children must had a length lower than –2DE (-2SD) of the mean value for reference tables and graphics according to age and sex (National Center for Health Statistics, World Health Organization 1979) or growth speed under percentile 25 (Tanner JM, Whitehouse RH), or both. Anamnesis and physical examination with codified clinical history were carried out. Algorithm of the study was created on the basis of bibliography.
Results: from 1996 to 2002 170 children were submitted, fulfilling criteria 85 of them. Of the total: 41 were female and 44 male, aged from 7 months to 14 years and 3 months, mean = 6 years and 8 months. Diagnosis for short length were determined by: genetic causes (TBG): 22, multi-factorial: 17, nutritional causes: 14, constitutional retardation of growth and development (RCCD): 10, genetic syndromes: 7, endocrine syndromes: 6, celiac disease: 5, unspecific causes: 2, psychological causes: 1, mixed (TBG y RCCD): 1.
Conclusions: The most frequent cause of low height was normal growing variants (TBG and RCCD). Low height or slow growth were confirmed in 49,4% which means that the 40,6% left had diagnosis of growing failure.
Most of the patients did not show clinical factors indicating causes of low height, which was the unique clinical manifestation.
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