Infant Growth + Short Stature Flashcards
How does normal growth vary?
1) Wide variation in population
2) Wide variation in families
3) Different ethnic populations
4) Effects of deprivation - not enough food to get all nutrients for growth
- We have to distinguish normal variation in growth from pathological growth
What are the differences in normal growth between boys and girls?
- Girls overtake boys at 12 years old bc girls start puberty earlier
- Delayed puberty give boys 14cm more height than girls
What are the 3 phases of growth + what hormones/factors cause them?
1) Infancy - nutrition, insulin
2) Mid-childhood - growth hormone, thyroxine
3) Puberty - growth hormone, sex hormones (also stop growth)
When does growth hormone have no effect on growth?
Infancy - can have GH deficiency and be growing fine
What is needed for normal growth?
1) Health - is there pathology?
2) Food - is there a problem of nutrition? Are they getting enough and are they absorbing it?
3) Nurturing - are they bring abused/neglected? - children grow less
4) Hormones - at the right time and the right amounts
- Normal growth results from a complex interaction of all these factors
What is the definition of short stature?
- A standing height < 0.4th centile (< 2.5 SD below the mean)
- Child who falls outside mid-parental heigh range
How do you define decreased growth velocity?
- Growth of < 4cm/year during mid-childhood (babies 20cm/year, v fast)
- Decreased growth velocity < 25th centile for over 12 months, on growth velocity chart
What is faltering growth?
- Dropping > 2 centile lines on a growth chart over a period of 12 months
- In first 6 months this can be normal - changing centiles
What could a disproportionate appearance suggest and what would you do?
- Possible skeletal dysplasia
- Short and overweight - suggestive of endocrinopathy
- Monitor the child over a period of 6 months
How do you assess growth?
1) History
2) Anthropometry
3) Examination
4) Investigations and assessment of skeletal maturity (bone age)
5) Adult height prediction
How can a systemic condition lead to growth problems?
All energy is used to manage condition, not for growth
How does sleeping affect growth?
GH is produced at night in pulses
What maternal factors can affect growth?
Maternal health, smoking
What do you want to include in the history to find out the cause of growth problems?
- Nutrition and feeding
- Nausea/vomiting/bowel habits
- Sleeping
- Delayed development/syndrome
- PMH/systemic enquiry
- Family history
- Birth weight - IUGR, antenatal history
What are causes of short stature?
1) Familial
2) IUGR/SGA with poor catch up growth by 4 years old
3) Extreme prematurity < 28 weeks
4) Constitutional delay of growth and puberty
5) Nutritional/chronic illness
6) Chromosomal disorders/syndromes
7) Psychosocial deprivation
8) Endocrine causes
9) Disproportionate short stature/skeletal dysplasia
10) Idiopathic