title: Incidence of sleep disorders in children with presumed normal variant short stature.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether unrecognized obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is present in some children diagnosed with normal variant short stature.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and fifty-eight children aged less than 15 years and previously diagnosed with familial short stature or constitutional delay of growth were identified from the endocrine clinic database. A validated, standardized questionnaire designed to screen for symptoms of sleep disorders in children was mailed to the parents of eligible children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-three questionnaires were returned. Fifteen of these had an abnormal score (greater than the mean + three standard deviations in 1157 normal control children). Of these, 10 agreed to a sleep study. Overnight polysomnography showed no evidence of OSA or other sleep/breathing disorders. However, five (half) children showed frequent periodic leg movements of 6.3, 9.2, 9.4, 10.2 and 15.4 per h (adult normal <5 per h).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We did not find OSA among a group of children with normal variant short stature. However, we found frequent periodic limb movements during sleep in a large proportion of the subjects, the significance of which remains to be determined.
authors: The Department of Endocrinology, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
authors: Thomas A
authors: TA
authors: Campbell
authors: Dimitri J
authors: DJ
authors: Papadopoulosverge
authors: Charles F
authors: CF
authors: Verge
authors: Bruce D
authors: BD
authors: Williamson
authors: Arthur
authors: A
authors: Teng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D017286:Polysomnography; D012148:Restless Legs Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires