Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The term « Small for gestationnel age » (SGA) defines newborn infants whose birth weight and/or crown-heel length is less than 10th percentile for gestational age, or at least 2 standard deviation below the mean for the infant’s gestational age. It is considerd as a common aetiology of short stature. The aim of our study is to describe the prevalence of SGA in short stature, and thee growth prognosis in this population.

Material and methods: We conducted a retrospective study on 14 patients presenting with short stature and SGA admitted in the Endocrinology-Diabetology-Nutrition department of Mohammed-VI University Hospital Center of Oujda, in the eastern of Morocco. The results were collected and processed using the SPSS software V21.

Results: The prevalence of patients defined as SGA among patients presenting with short stature was 7%. The mean age of patients at diagnosis was 8 years ± 4, and the sex ratio M/F was 1,8. The mean birth weight of patients was 2,2 ±0,4 kg. No obstetric history was found in any patient’s mother, and a neonatal suffering history was found in 25% of patients. The mean height at diagnosis was 120 cm ±18 cm, and the mean weight was 22 kg ±7. The mean standard deviation (SD) score for height was -4 SD ±0,8, and the mean standard deviation score for weight was -2,8 ±0,7SD. The median difference between bone age and chronological age was 16 months (ranging from 10 to 49 months). A Glucagon-Propranolol test was performed in 75% of patients. One patient had a partial growth hormone deficiency, in whom a Silver syndrome was suspected. Growth hormone (GH) therapy was assessed in 78,5% of patients. It was not used in 21,5% of patients for lack of means. After one year of treatment, the mean height of patients was 131 cm ±21 cm, with a gain of 11 cm, and the mean standard deviation (SD) score for height was -3,6SD ±1SD.

Discussion and conclusion: An increased risk for short stature is discribed in infants born small for gestationnal age. Growth hormone therapy is indicated in children born small for gestationnal age with failure to catch up to the normal height percentiles. The growth promoting effect of continuous GH treatment was noticed in our case series.