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Updated: Sep 25, 2026
Fetal Echocardiography and Pulsed-wave Doppler Ultrasound in a Rabbit Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction
Published on: June 29, 2013
[Growth assessment in children with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) - preliminary results]
D Januś1, J Starzyk, H Dziatkowiak
1midziatk@cyf-kr.edu.pl
Insights
Children born small for gestational age with low IGF-1 and GH levels may benefit from growth hormone therapy. Further research is needed to confirm these findings for improved childhood growth.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Growth and Development
- Metabolic Disorders
Context:
- Assessing growth in children born small for gestational age (SGA) is crucial.
- Evaluating the somatotropic axis and auxological parameters provides insights into growth potential.
- Understanding factors influencing catch-up growth in SGA children is essential for timely intervention.
Purpose:
- To investigate the correlation between birth weight, somatotropic axis hormones (IGF-1, GH), and growth parameters in SGA children.
- To identify predictors of catch-up growth in children born with low birth weight for gestational age.
- To explore the potential of growth hormone therapy in SGA children with specific hormonal profiles.
Summary:
- This study evaluated 28 children aged 2.3-12 years born SGA, assessing growth metrics and hormonal levels.
- Significant growth improvement was observed in children with lower birth weight.
- Positive correlations were found between IGF-1 levels and catch-up growth, and between GH levels and growth velocity.
Impact:
- Findings suggest that SGA children with lower IGF-1 and GH levels, and birth weight below -2 SD, may be candidates for growth hormone treatment.
- This research highlights potential therapeutic targets for optimizing growth in SGA populations.
- Further studies are warranted to validate the efficacy and safety of growth hormone therapy in this cohort.
Abstract:
In 28 children aged 2.3-12 years born with birth weight less than -2 SD for gestational age we assessed growth according to birth weight and height, duration of gestation, mid- parental height, and somatotropic axis. All children were subjected to auxological evaluation every 3 months. The assessment included changes of height for chronological age standard deviation score (DeltaH SDS CA), height for bone age (DeltaH SDS BA), growth velocity (GV SDS) and height - mid-parental height (H SDS-MPH SDS). We observed a significant growth improvement in children with lower birth weight (r=-0.5, p<0.0059), a positive correlation between IGF-1 level and catch -up growth (DeltaH SDS CA) (r=0.5, p<0.048) and maximum GH level (stimulation test) and growth velocity (GV SDS) (r=0.8, p<0.01). These data suggest that children with lower IGF-1 and GH levels, as well as birth weight within -2 SDS could be treated with growth hormone. However, this theory requires further evaluation.
