Transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT) is a severe genetic chronic hemolytic disease, and growth retardation is a common clinical feature in patients with TDT. Due to the need for regular blood transfusions, these patients often experience iron overload, which leads to various endocrine dysfunctions, including abnormalities in the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor axis, hypothyroidism, hypoparathyroidism, hypogonadism, adrenal insufficiency, and decreased bone density. This paper reviews the clinical monitoring and intervention measures for growth disorders and related endocrine functions in patients with TDT, providing references for clinicians.
Humans ; Thalassemia/physiopathology* ; Child ; Growth Disorders/diagnosis* ; Blood Transfusion ; Endocrine System Diseases/therapy*

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the nutritional status and its influencing factors in children with newly diagnosed inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of children who were diagnosed with IBD for the first time in Hunan Children's Hospital from January 2015 to December 2021. Diagnostic delay was defined as the time from the symptom onset to IBD diagnosis being in the upper quartile (P₇₆-P₁₀₀) of all IBD children in the study. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore the risk factors for emaciation and growth retardation. RESULTS: A total of 125 children with newly diagnosed IBD were included, with Crohn's disease being the main type (91.2%). The rates of emaciation and growth retardation were 42.4% (53 cases) and 7.2% (9 cases), respectively, and the rate of anemia was 77.6% (97 cases). Diagnostic delay was noted in 31 children (24.8%), with the time from the symptom onset to IBD diagnosis of 366 to 7 211 days. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that diagnostic delay was a risk factor for emaciation and growth retardation (OR=2.73 and OR=4.42, respectively; P<0.05) and that age was positively associated with emaciation (OR=1.30, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Children with newly diagnosed IBD have poor nutritional status, and the rates of anemia, emaciation, and growth retardation are high. Diagnostic delay is associated with malnutrition in children with IBD.
Humans ; Child ; Colitis, Ulcerative/diagnosis* ; Nutritional Status ; Retrospective Studies ; Emaciation/complications* ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/complications* ; Malnutrition/complications* ; Growth Disorders/complications*

Short stature is a common physical developmental abnormality in children. Without timely and accurate diagnosis, as well as early intervention, it can impose a heavy burden on the children and their families. There are numerous causes for short stature, and the diagnostic process essentially involves identifying its underlying causes. Based on a thorough understanding of the regular patterns of child physical development and the characteristics of individuals at high risk of short stature, a scientific definition of short stature needs to be established, along with standardized diagnostic and treatment protocols, to achieve early diagnosis or referral for short stature. Furthermore, it is necessary to enhance scientific awareness of short stature among parents and primary care pediatricians, in order to avoid over-treatment, missed diagnoses, and misdiagnoses arising from "misconceptions", and to improve the scientific assessment of short stature.
Humans ; Child ; Dwarfism/diagnosis* ; Child Development ; Parents ; Body Height ; Growth Disorders/etiology*

Objective: To evaluate the consistency of mass spectrometry (MS) and chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) in detecting serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and IGF-1 standard deviation score (SDS). Methods: This cross-sectional parallel control study prospectively collected the serum samples of 115 children with short stature disorders who were admitted in the Department of Endocrinology, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University from February 2020 to December 2021. The serum IGF-1 level was detected by CLIA and MS, and converted to SDS for consistency analysis. Pearson analysis was used to analyze the correlation between the 2 methods, and Deming regression equation was established. Bland-Altman diagram and weighted Kappa coefficient were used to evaluate the consistency of the 2 methods. Results: There were 46 boys (40.0%) and 69 girls (60.0%), aged (8±3) years. Among the 115 cases, 37 were Turner syndrome, 59 were small for gestational age (SGA) at term, 1 was growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and 18 were other diseases. Pearson correlation analysis showed a preferable correlation between IGF-1 measured by the 2 detection methods (r=0.94, P<0.01), and IGF-1 SDS was also significantly correlated (r=0.92, P<0.01). Bland-Altman analysis showed that the consistency of serum IGF-1 levels detected by the 2 methods was poor, and the mean difference between CLIA and MS was 33.38 μg/L. The result detected by CLIA was significantly higher than that by MS, with SDS of 43.51 μg/L (95%CI -51.89-118.7 μg/L). After converting the results to SDS and removing 3 outliers (including 1 GHD patient), the weighted Kappa showed acceptable consistency (κ=0.68). Conclusion: In clinical application, after converting to IGF-1 SDS, IGF-1 detected by MS and CLIA can be used for cross-reference, but too high or too low levels should be cautious about.
Body Height ; Child ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Growth Disorders/diagnosis* ; Human Growth Hormone ; Humans ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I/metabolism* ; Insulins ; Male

Consensus ; Growth Disorders ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Human Growth Hormone ; administration & dosage ; deficiency ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Practice Guidelines as Topic

Mutations in the CHD7 gene, encoding for the chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 7, are found in approximately 60% of individuals with CHARGE syndrome (coloboma, heart defects, choanal atresia, retarded growth and development, genital hypoplasia, ear abnormalities and/or hearing loss). Herein, we present a clinical case of a 14-year-old male presenting for evaluation of poor growth and pubertal delay highlighting the diagnostic challenges of CHARGE syndrome. The patient was born full term and underwent surgery at 5 days of life for bilateral choanal atresia. Developmental milestones were normally achieved. At age 14 his height and weight were
Adolescent ; CHARGE Syndrome ; Choanal Atresia ; Diagnosis ; Ear ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; Follow-Up Studies ; Genetic Testing ; Gonadotropins ; Growth and Development ; Hearing ; Heart ; Humans ; Luteinizing Hormone ; Male ; Olfaction Disorders ; Puberty, Delayed ; Testis ; Testosterone

Linear growth occurs at the growth plate. Therefore, genetic defects that interfere with the normal function of the growth plate can cause linear growth disorders. Many genetic causes of growth disorders have already been identified in humans. However, recent genome-wide approaches have broadened our knowledge of the mechanisms of linear growth, not only providing novel monogenic causes of growth disorders but also revealing single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes that affect height in the general population. The genes identified as causative of linear growth disorders are heterogeneous, playing a role in various growth-regulating mechanisms including those involving the extracellular matrix, intracellular signaling, paracrine signaling, endocrine signaling, and epigenetic regulation. Understanding the underlying genetic defects in linear growth is important for clinicians and researchers in order to provide proper diagnoses, management, and genetic counseling, as well as to develop better treatment approaches for children with growth disorders.
Child ; Diagnosis ; Epigenomics ; Extracellular Matrix ; Genetic Counseling ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Growth Disorders ; Growth Plate ; Humans ; Paracrine Communication ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

Tatton-Brown-Rahman Syndrome (TBRS), an overgrowth syndrome caused by heterozygous mutation of DNMT3A, first was described in 2014. Approximately 60 DNMT3A variants, including 32 missense variants, have been reported, with most missense mutations located on the DNMT3A functional domains. Autosomal dominant inheritance by germ-line mutation of DNMT3A has been reported, but vertical transmission within a family is extremely rare. Herein, we report the first Korean family with maternally inherited TBRS due to the novel heterozygous DNMT3A variant c.118G>C p.(Glu40Gln), located outside the main functional domain and identified by multigene panel sequencing. The patient and her mother had typical clinical features, including tall stature during childhood, macrocephaly, intellectual disability, and characteristic facial appearance. TBRS shows milder dysmorphic features than other overgrowth syndromes, potentially leading to underdiagnosis and underestimated prevalence; thus, targeted multigene panel sequencing including DNMT3A will be a useful tool in cases of overgrowth and unexplained mild intellectual disability for early diagnosis and genetic counseling.
Early Diagnosis ; Genetic Counseling ; Germ-Line Mutation ; Growth Disorders ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability ; Megalencephaly ; Mothers ; Mutation, Missense ; Prevalence ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Wills

BACKGROUND: Although it is known that children with food allergies are at risk of impaired growth, this has not been well studied in South-East Asia. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this cross-sectional study is to survey the growth of children with food allergies in Singapore and the factors impacting it. METHODS: Anthropometric data, demographic data, type of food allergy, foods eliminated, and atopic comorbidities were recorded. Malnutrition was defined using World Health Organization standards (≤-2 z-score for weight-for-height [WH], weight-for-age [WA], and height-for-age [HA]).
Asia ; Child ; Comorbidity ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Data Collection ; Diagnosis ; Eczema ; Food Hypersensitivity ; Growth Disorders ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoglobulin E ; Malnutrition ; Nutritionists ; Overweight ; Singapore ; Skin ; Thinness ; World Health Organization

Cognitive impairment is age-related and manageable only with early diagnosis and prevention. Moxibustion is widely accepted in East Asia as useful for preventing cognitive impairment. This systematic review of animal studies was conducted to verify the efficacy of moxibustion in preventing cognitive impairment and to elucidate the underlying mechanism. Randomized controlled animal trials that established the efficacy of moxibustion in preventing cognitive impairment were included in the analysis. Results of behavioral tests and the signaling pathways elucidated were extracted and a meta-analysis was conducted with the behavioral test results. The risk of bias was evaluated using 9 items, and reporting quality was evaluated using the ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments) Guidelines Checklist. Ten trials involving 410 animals met the inclusion criteria. All studies reported the benefit of moxibustion in preventing cognitive deficits caused by Alzheimer's disease (AD). Among five studies using the Morris water maze test, a significant effect of moxibustion in decreasing the escape time was reported in three studies, increasing the crossing times in four studies, and prolonging the dwelling time in two studies. The effects of moxibustion were demonstrated to be mediated by an increase in the activity of neurotrophins and heat shock protein, modulation of the cell cycle, and suppression of apoptosis and inflammation. However, considering the small number of included studies, the lack of studies investigating entire signaling pathways, and a high risk of bias and low reporting quality, our results need to be confirmed through more detailed studies.
Alzheimer Disease ; Animal Experimentation ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Behavior Rating Scale ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Cell Cycle ; Checklist ; Cognition Disorders ; Early Diagnosis ; Far East ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; Inflammation ; Moxibustion ; Nerve Growth Factors ; United Nations ; Water