Stepwise evaluation of the short child

Preview

Five percent of school-age children will be less than the fifth percentile for height on standard growth charts. Most of these children will be healthy and normal, but some will have serious underlying medical problems and some will be candidates for therapy with growth hormone. In this article, Dr Stelling reviews a stepwise approach to the evaluation of children with short stature and discusses the current status of growth hormone therapy. His discussion will assist you in identifying those children with organic growth failure and in making appropriate referral.