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Weight for age charts for children with achondroplasia

J E Hoover-Fong1, J McGready, K J Schulze

  • 1Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA. jhoover2@jhmi.edu

American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part A
|September 4, 2007
PubMed

Insights

New weight-for-age growth charts for achondroplasia patients (birth to 16 years) provide accurate growth tracking. These charts, based on 334 individuals, offer crucial data for monitoring children with this genetic condition.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Genetics
  • Anthropometry

Background:

  • Achondroplasia is a common genetic skeletal dysplasia.
  • Accurate growth monitoring is essential for individuals with achondroplasia.
  • Current growth charts are not specific for achondroplasia, potentially leading to misinterpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop novel, gender-specific weight-for-age growth charts for individuals with achondroplasia.
  • To provide a standardized tool for assessing weight in children with achondroplasia from birth to 16 years.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal, retrospective cohort study of 334 individuals with achondroplasia.
  • Construction of gender-specific weight-for-age curves using 1,964 weight measurements from 301 subjects.
  • Semi-parametric modeling with smoothed percentile estimation (5th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 95th).

Main Results:

  • Novel weight-for-age growth curves for achondroplasia patients (birth-16 years) were successfully developed.
  • Birth weight showed overlap between achondroplasia and average stature infants.
  • The developed curves allow for gender-specific percentile tracking.

Conclusions:

  • The developed weight-for-age charts offer accurate growth assessment for achondroplasia.
  • This methodology can be extended to other anthropometric measures and diagnoses.
  • Standardized growth monitoring is crucial for managing achondroplasia and similar conditions.

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