1, growth hormone deficiency is one of the common causes of these children, the height and weight at birth is generally normal, and most of them are also normal within one year of age, and after one year of age, they start to find slow growth, after which the gap with their peers gradually widens. The face is childish, the upper and lower body proportions are normal, and the intelligence is normal. A growth hormone stimulation test is needed to make the diagnosis.
2. In intrauterine growth retardation, these children are born with low length and weight and have been shorter than their peers since birth, with generally normal intelligence and basically normal upper and lower body proportions.
3. Turner syndrome (congenital ovarian hypoplasia) accounts for a significant proportion of female children with short stature, up to nearly 10%. In these children, edema of the hands and feet are often present at birth, with peeling skin, and slow growth is found soon after birth, and they often have webbed neck (loose skin on both sides of the neck), low hairline (hair is born low at the back of the neck), multiple moles, and elbow ectropion. A chromosome test is needed to confirm the diagnosis.
4. Of course there are many other possibilities. There are also some causes that are currently difficult to find out or possible to find out, but because there are no more targeted drugs available, may still use growth hormone (currently other problems in the growth hormone axis, such as receptor insensitivity, because there is no receptor available, or the application of growth hormone treatment) may also not go to the examination, because the examination is currently for treatment. In cases where the specific cause cannot be identified for the time being and is sufficient for the diagnostic criteria of dwarfism, we may place the diagnosis of idiopathic dwarfism.
Other tests are done to check the safety of the medication and the possible effect of the treatment: thyroid hormone, liver and kidney function, blood count, blood sugar, pituitary MRI or CT, etc. It is also advisable to check insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and its binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) if possible.