A study of etiological and clinical profile of short stature in a tertiary care center

Abstract

Background: Short stature is the common finding in pediatric endocrine practice with diverse etiology. However, compared to western world, data addressing the etiological and clinical profile of short stature in India are limited. The present study aimed to evaluate etiological and clinical profile of short stature in children. The primary objective was to identify children with short stature and evaluate various causes of short stature and secondary objective was to identify the gender and height differences among the different causes of short stature.Methods: This prospective observational study analysed the data of 100 children aged 2-16 years, who presented to the department of paediatrics, Apollo Hospital, Chennai for the evaluation of short stature and poor growth during the period of April 2016 to April 2017.Results: The predominant causes of short stature were growth hormone deficiency (GHD; 28%), normal variant short stature (26%), followed by chronic disease (8%), syndromic short stature (8%), Turner syndrome (7%), and hypothyroidism (6%). The most common causes of short stature in males were GHD (28%), constitutional delay of growth and puberty (CDGP; 24%) and familial short stature (FSS; 16%), whereas in females GHD (28%), Turner syndrome (14%) and FSS (12%). Beside this, 96% children had <3rd height centile and 4% children had >3rd height centile, of which 3 cases of GHD and 1 case of syndromic short stature were identified.Conclusions: The most common causes of short stature identified in our study were GHD and normal variant short stature.