title: Pulsatile growth pattern during catch-up growth in childhood coeliac disease.
abstract: Catch-up growth in coeliac disease was thought to be a continuous process and hence linear models have been proposed to interpret the pattern of catch-up growth. Observed longitudinal data do not fit a linear model adequately. The aim of this study is to clarify the pattern of short-term catch-up growth in coeliac patients. Twenty-one coeliac children (aged 6-24 months) entered the study and were monitored at short-time intervals. All showed a "pulsatile" pattern of growth velocity for height, weight, leg length, subscapular and triceps skinfolds. Peaks alternated with troughs at a mean time of 62 days for the whole set of measurements. The periodicity was remarkably stable. The size of the peaks decreased with time on a gluten-free diet. Catch-up growth is a discontinuous process made up of a sequence of bursts of growth followed by a resting phase. This provides strong evidence for the possibility that short-term growth may be pulsatile.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Greco
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tipo
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Di Donato
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayer
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000178:diet therapy; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010507:Periodicity; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D013997:Time Factors