title: Growth and development in white patients with sickle cell diseases.
abstract: We have evaluated height, weight, bone age, somatomedin-C levels, and pubertal development in 114 Sicilian patients affected by sickle cell diseases (SCDs). Thirty-one had homozygous sickle hemoglobin (SS), 55 S-beta 0 thalassemia, and 28 S-beta + thalassemia. In both children and adults, the mean height and weight were approximately 1 SD below the normal mean for age. The height was below the normal range only in a few subjects (8 children and 4 adult women). Somatomedin-C levels were within the normal range in most of the patients (37/44 children and 17/22 adults). Bone age revealed a slight delay in skeletal maturation (mean chronological age and bone age were 7.7 +/- 3 and 7.11 +/- 2.9 respectively; p < 0.05). Mean age at menarche was increased compared to normal subjects. Our findings show that Sicilian patients with SCD exhibit a moderate delay of growth and adolescence but attain a final height within the normal range.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012805:Sickle Cell Trait / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I