Growth and maturation in pseudo-hypoparathyroidism: a longitudinal study in 5 patients

In 4 girls and 1 boy with pseudo-hypoparathyroidism growth and physical maturation were followed longitudinally for 7-13 years until adult height had been reached. As a result of early puberty and cessation of growth all patients were relatively shorter as adults than in their childhood years. The difference between average height at the age of 8.0 years and average adult height was 2.25 SD. This observation offers an explanation for the finding in the literature that short stature is more common in adults with this disease than in children. Skeletal age was advanced in all cases and the development of the tubular bones of the hand was more advanced than the development of the round bones. It is possible that this difference resulted from inappropriately early closure of the epiphyseal discs of disproportionally short metacarpals and phalanges. On the other hand it may be an aspecific phenomenon of advanced skeletal maturation.