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Accurate growth evaluation & appropriate treatment

Accurate growth evaluation with timely and appropriate treatment is crucial to low-height.

CENTRAL

Growth Clinic Center

What is Low-Height?

When we line up 100 people with same age and same sex in a height order, the people who belongs in the group less than the 3rd place are called low-height. If you’re 10cm or more smaller than your peers, you may be suffering from low-height.We also pay deep attention to the growth rate. Even though the child’s height is normal, if a child aged 3~10 grows less than 4cm in a year is considered a growth disorder.

Normal growth

As for an infant shows great growth about 20-30cm during the first year after birth, and then grows about 12cm for 1 year till the infant is 2 years old, and finally grows 5~6cm every year until puberty hits. When puberty starts acceleration of growth strikes again, making the child to grow about 7~12cm per year. And as the growth plate gradually closes, eventually the child’s growth ends too.

In what case do we need to visit the Growth Clinic Center?

  • 0110cm or more smaller than the peers
  • 02Haven’t even grew a 4cm in the past year
  • 03Wearing the same sized pants more than 2 years
  • 04Despite the low-height, experiencing puberty faster than other peers

Growth evaluation

How do we treat growth disorders?

  • 01If you’re suffering from growth hormone deficiency, growth hormone treatment could be covered by a health insurance.
  • 02Besides growth hormone deficiency, you can receive growth hormone treatment covered with health insurance for Turner syndrome, renal failure, and Prader-Willi syndrome.
  • 03Though continuous treatment of growth hormone, you’ll be able to reach the normal adult height.
  • 04But growth hormone treatment is only efficient when the growth plate is still open.

Causes of low-height

  • 01Genetical low-height

    Also called as ‘Familial low-height’, is the most common cause of low-height.The bone age is the same as the patient’s actual age, also puberty occurs at normal timing. But some may experience a slight early puberty.One of the parents may be low-height, and the final height of the child is approximate to the predicted genetic height.

  • 02Constitutional growth retardation

    The patient may be short now, but has young bone ages and puberty occurs late.Since these case of patients show late growth than other children, they eventually reaches the normal height range group when grown adult.History of constitutional growth retardation in the patient’s parents are inevitable.

  • 03Turner syndrome

    Caused by the abnormality in some of the sex chromosomes at girl patients.With very low height, the patient doesn’t show secondary sexual characteristics even if they reach puberty. There may be disorders in the heart and kidney, so additional examination is needed.If not treated well, the average adult height of a Turner syndrome patient is only about 140 cm. It is crucial to start growth hormone treatment in an early stage.

  • 04Intrauterine growth restriction

    In case of baby with birth weight lower than 2.5kg, this case may have affect in the postnatal growth too.If the baby fails to follow the normal growth rates within 2 years from birth, the baby has high possibilities of low-height.

  • 05Low-height because of endocrinopathy

    The classic example of low-height of endocrinopathy is the growth hormone deficiency. Patients tend to have relatively high weight, compared to their height.Besides growth hormone deficiency, abnormality in thyroid or adrenocortical hormone also causes growth disorders too.

  • 06Precocious puberty

    When puberty strikes too fast, at first it feels as if the growth rate is accelerating. But it makes the growth plate to close quickly, resulting in the growth to end in an early stage with a low final height.

  • 07And other reasons

    Besides the causes stated above, insufficient nutritional intake, kidney failure, chronic lung diseases such as asthma, severe anemia, inflammatory bowel disease, and congenital heart disease may also cause growth disorders too.

Life styles that help growth

  • Moderate exercise with steady efforts
  • Eat three well-balanced diet meal every day.
  • Enough long quality sleep
  • Reduce stress and keep pleasant mental attitude
  • Remain correct posture
  • Frequent outdoor activity

Medical Team

  • 송준혁

    Cheif of Department of Pediatrics and Adolescents

    Na Wijin

    Pediatrics

    Growth clinic (low kidney, precocious puberty treatment), allergic immunotherapy (atopy, rhinitis, asthma), vaccination, infant screening, childcare counseling, digestive diseases, respiratory diseases

    View detail Timetable