Etiologies of short stature in a pediatric endocrine clinic in Southern Thailand
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Tansit Saengkaew
Abstract
Background:
Short stature is one of the common disorders referred for investigation of an endocrine disorder. The etiologies of short stature vary and are commonly grouped into pathological and non-pathological disorders. The objective of the study was to determine the etiologies and describe the characteristics of short stature patients who attended the Pediatric Endocrinology Clinic and to compare factors between normal variant short stature (NVSS) and growth hormone deficiency (GHD).
Methods:
This was a retrospective review of 572 patients referred for evaluation of short stature between January 2004 and December 2015. Short stature was defined as height below −2 standard deviation score (SDS) by gender and age based on population data of Thai children.
Results:
In total, 521 patients were identified as having short stature. NVSS was the most common etiology (44.9%) and pathological short stature was found in 35.3% of the cases, of which 21.2% had GHD. The median age at presentation of NVSS patients was 8.6 years while that of pathological short stature patients was 2.1 years (p<0.001). Patients with NVSS had significantly higher median height SDS (HSDS) than patients with pathological diseases. The common etiologies in severe short patients, defined by HSDS ≤−3, were syndromic short stature (16.2%) and GHD (14.1%). In the moderate short stature group (HSDS between −2 and −3), constitutional delay of growth and puberty (CDGP) was the most common etiology (34.1%).
Conclusions:
NVSS was the most common etiology of short stature, followed by syndromic short stature and GHD. Physical examination is crucial to identify GHD from syndromic short patients.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Mr. David Patterson from the International Affairs Office in the Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, for his assistance with English editing.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Mini Review
- Marine-Lenhart syndrome in two adolescents, including one with thyroid cancer: a case series and review of the literature
- Original Articles
- The role of enterovirus infections in type 1 diabetes in Tunisia
- Serum progranulin levels in relation to insulin resistance in childhood obesity
- Relation between circulating oxidized-LDL and metabolic syndrome in children with obesity: the role of hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype
- Etiologies of short stature in a pediatric endocrine clinic in Southern Thailand
- Thyroid evaluation of children and adolescents with Williams syndrome in Zhejiang Province
- The use of a radiolucent template to improve bone age X-ray quality (BASIC study)
- How often are clinicians performing genital exams in children with disorders of sex development?
- Efficacy and safety of percutaneous administration of dihydrotestosterone in children of different genetic backgrounds with micropenis
- Higher phthalate concentrations are associated with precocious puberty in normal weight Thai girls
- Identification of a novel mutation of NR0B1 in a patient with X-linked adrenal hypoplasia and symptomatic treatment
- Mutation analysis of the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene and prenatal diagnosis of phenylketonuria in Shaanxi, China
- Could a combination of heterozygous ABCC8 and KCNJ11 mutations cause congenital hyperinsulinism?
- Case Reports
- Diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperuricemia and encephalopathy intractable to regular-dose insulin
- A novel DAX-1 (NR0B1) mutation in a boy with X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita
- High aldosterone and cortisol levels in salt wasting congenital adrenal hyperplasia: a clinical conundrum
- A newborn with combined pituitary hormone deficiency developing shock and sludge
- Acknowledgment
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Mini Review
- Marine-Lenhart syndrome in two adolescents, including one with thyroid cancer: a case series and review of the literature
- Original Articles
- The role of enterovirus infections in type 1 diabetes in Tunisia
- Serum progranulin levels in relation to insulin resistance in childhood obesity
- Relation between circulating oxidized-LDL and metabolic syndrome in children with obesity: the role of hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype
- Etiologies of short stature in a pediatric endocrine clinic in Southern Thailand
- Thyroid evaluation of children and adolescents with Williams syndrome in Zhejiang Province
- The use of a radiolucent template to improve bone age X-ray quality (BASIC study)
- How often are clinicians performing genital exams in children with disorders of sex development?
- Efficacy and safety of percutaneous administration of dihydrotestosterone in children of different genetic backgrounds with micropenis
- Higher phthalate concentrations are associated with precocious puberty in normal weight Thai girls
- Identification of a novel mutation of NR0B1 in a patient with X-linked adrenal hypoplasia and symptomatic treatment
- Mutation analysis of the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene and prenatal diagnosis of phenylketonuria in Shaanxi, China
- Could a combination of heterozygous ABCC8 and KCNJ11 mutations cause congenital hyperinsulinism?
- Case Reports
- Diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperuricemia and encephalopathy intractable to regular-dose insulin
- A novel DAX-1 (NR0B1) mutation in a boy with X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita
- High aldosterone and cortisol levels in salt wasting congenital adrenal hyperplasia: a clinical conundrum
- A newborn with combined pituitary hormone deficiency developing shock and sludge
- Acknowledgment
