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Auxological and biochemical assessment of short stature
1Endocrine Unit, Middlesex Hospital, London.
Insights
Accurate assessment of childhood growth relies on height velocity measurements, not just biochemical tests. Normal growth velocity is crucial for diagnosing short stature and predicting treatment response.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Endocrinology
- Growth Monitoring
Background:
- Childhood height and height velocity are sensitive indicators of health status.
- Biochemical tests alone are insufficient for diagnosing short stature.
Purpose of the Study:
- To emphasize the importance of height velocity in defining normal growth in children.
- To highlight factors influencing growth hormone therapy response.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of height measurements and height velocity calculations.
- Evaluation of biochemical tests in relation to growth velocity.
- Assessment of growth hormone (GH) therapy outcomes.
Main Results:
- Height velocity is a highly accurate and sensitive measure of a child's health.
- Normal height velocity is essential to confirm normal growth, even with biochemical testing.
- Pretreatment growth rate, GH dosage, and administration frequency impact therapy response.
Conclusions:
- Height velocity is the definitive measure for assessing normal growth in children.
- Biochemical assessments must be supported by normal height velocity data.
- Optimizing growth hormone therapy requires consideration of pretreatment growth and administration parameters.
Abstract:
Measurements of height and calculation of height velocity are highly accurate and sensitive to changes in a child's health. Definition of normality must be based on height velocity, and it is not acceptable to label a child as short and normal purely on the basis of a biochemical test unless this is substantiated with the demonstration of a normal height velocity. Response to therapy is dependent on the child's pretreatment growth rate and also on the amount of GH administered and the frequency of administration.