Normal variant short stature.

Abstract

Human Growth hormone (HGh) deftciency is a well recognized cause of short stature and the criteria for its diagnosis is well established. ! From time to time patients not considered to be HGh deficient by the traditional criteria have been said to benefit from treatment with HGh, but have not been systematically studied. 2 Recently a group of children with short stature has been identified who, though not full'riling the usual criteria for HGh deficiency, benefit from HGh therapy. 3 This condition has recently been termed "normal variant short stature" (NVSS), a term first used by David Smith 4 and popularized by Rudman and associates. 3 The criteria for diagnosing NVSS include (i) current height and predicted adult height below the 3rd percentile, (ii) birth weight greater than 2500 gin, (iii) normal physical examination except for proportionate short stature with or without retarded bone age, (iv) no evidence of economic, psychological or nutritional deprivation, (v) average peak plasma HGh value of more than 12 ng/ml in the provocative tests, (vi) normal thyroid, adrenal and antidiuretic hormone function and (vii) a normal karyotype. 3