title: Criteria for treating children with idiopathic short stature: laboratory (biochemical).
abstract: Idiopathic short stature (ISS) is a diagnosis of exclusion. No specific laboratory test can identify it. Rather, a series of tests that examine a person's genetic, nutritional and hormonal makeup are used to exclude specific diagnoses. However, abnormalities of the growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor (GH-IGF) axis appear to be common in children with ISS. As the only growth-promoting treatments available to children with ISS are either human GH or recombinant human IGF-I, it is plausible that measures of the GH-IGF axis or of growth factor response might be useful in predicting response to therapy or choosing the optimal medical regimen.
authors.affiliation: CMRI Diabetes & Metabolic Research Program, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Okla, USA.
authors.forename: Steven D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Chernausek
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D019963:Clinical Chemistry Tests; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I