title: Adult stature and anthropomorphic measurements of patients with myelomeningocele.
abstract: Children with myelomeningocele are extremely short, yet little data exists on adult stature and anthropomorphic measurements. We measured the recumbent length, weight, arm length, sitting height and calculated body mass index of 54 adults with myelomeningocele. Mid parental height was also calculated. Measurements were compared with normative data. Patient charts were reviewed for history of hydrocephalus. The 27 males and 27 females had a mean age of 24.8 +/- 5.7 years. The mean length for adult females was 141.9 +/- 12 cm and was 152.1 +/- 13 cm for males. Patients with thoracic level of lesions were shorter than those with lumbar level who were, in turn, shorter than those with sacral levels. Recumbent length, sitting height, arm length and arm span were significantly smaller than expected values. Recumbent length was smaller than mid parental height. Those with ventriculoperitoneal shunts, required for hydrocephalus, were shorter than these without a shunt.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adults with myelomeningocele have significant short stature. Arm span is not an interchangeable measure with length for patients with myelomeningocele. Multiple factors are likely to be responsible for the observed short stature.
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Pennsylvania, Department of Pediatrics, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh 15212, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rotenstein
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Reigel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods; D001827:Body Height; D004392:Dwarfism / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008591:Meningomyelocele / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012016:Reference Values; D012044:Regression Analysis; D016683:Supine Position