title: Introduction to the study of pre- and postnatal growth in humans: a review.
abstract: This review is divided in several items. A brief introduction on the characterization of the growth processes is made; the ways of assessing fetal development and well-being, the factors acting on fetal growth and birth weight, the causes and post-natal consequences of prematurity and intrauterine growth retardation are discussed in the first part. The following items deal mainly with: the normal pattern of growth from birth to puberty according to sex, race, and nutritional status, with special mention to pubertal changes; methods for predicting adult height from skeletal age; the effect of hormones during pre- and post-natal life; and the genetics of adult stature. The remainder of this review deals with genetic causes of growth abnormalities. Constitutional delay of growth, familial short stature, hypothalamic-pituitary dwarfism, skeletal dysplasias and many genetic syndromes presenting intrauterine growth retardation are listed. Aneuploidy effects on human growth are extensively reviewed, and usual growth patterns in Down and Ullrich-Turner syndrome patients as well as other sex aneuploid individuals and mosaics are fully described. The influences of X and Y chromosomes on growth and maturation are also discussed. Finally, some remarks are made about overgrowth syndromes.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000782:Aneuploidy; D001724:Birth Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000209:etiology; D006128:Growth; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000235:genetics*; D006728:Hormones / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D014960:X Chromosome; D014998:Y Chromosome
chemical_list: D006728:Hormones