title: Characteristics of the short children referred to an academic paediatric endocrine clinic in Greece.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the characteristics of short children in relation to gender and the various diagnoses.
  
  
  METHODS
  All new patients of Greek origin that were referred to our institution in the years 2007 and 2008 for evaluation of short stature were included in the study. Children were categorized according to the severity of their short stature in those with height standard deviation score (HSDS) ≤ -3 and HSDS > -3.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred ninety-five children (162 boys and 133 girls, ratio 1.2) were referred. HSDS of boys was -2.3 (0.6) and of girls -2.1 (0.5), P= 0.004. Girls had shorter parents, and the predicted adult HSDS was also shorter for girls -1.7 (0.8) than for boys -1.35 (0.76), P= 0.003. Seventy per cent of the children of both sexes had familial short stature (FSS), constitutional delay of growth or a combination of the two conditions. About 10% presented the auxological and biochemical criteria for growth hormone deficiency (GHD). In addition, 11.8% had a HSDS ≤ -3, the most common diagnosis being GHD (36.1%); the less severely short children most commonly presented FSS (41.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is no gender bias in referrals for short stature in Greece. About 70% of children of both sexes presented FSS or constitutional delay of growth or a combination of the two conditions, whereas GHD was diagnosed in about 10% of the children. Normal variants of growth were present in about 80% of children with HSDS > -3, but in only 40% when HSDS was ≤ -3.
authors: Third Department of Paediatrics, University of Athens, School of Medicine, Attikon University Hospital, Athens, Greece. anpapad@med.uoa.gr
authors: Anastasios
authors: A
authors: Papadimitriou
authors: Konstantinos
authors: K
authors: Douros
authors: Dimitrios T
authors: DT
authors: Papadimitriou
authors: Kleanthis
authors: K
authors: Kleanthous
authors: Olga
authors: O
authors: Karapanou
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Fretzayas
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000886:Anthropometry; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004393:Dwarfism, Pituitary / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies