[Natural history of intrauterine growth retardation: pubertal growth and adult height]

Abstract

The evolution of height and bone age up to complete or near complete achievement of growth has been followed in 13 children born at term with a length of 42 to 46 cm, who after age 2 years had still a growth delay of -2.1 to -4.9 SD. Their mean annual growth velocity has been slightly below the average, excepted in the years preceding and following immediately the onset of puberty. The bone age, largely delayed and close to height age up to approximatively 8 years, afterwards has increased more than growth, so that the final height has always been less than the adult height predicted at age 8 years. The main factor in this difference between final and predicted height has been the fact that puberty has not been delayed. Starting at the usual age, in children whose height deficiency was still important, the pubertal growth spurt has not allowed full catch-up. Thus, in spite of delayed bone age during childhood, the mean adult height in the 13 patients of this series has been -3.43 SD versus -3.16 SD at age 2-5 years, these mean values involving different individual growth curves with absolute deterioration in 6 only of the 13 cases. These data will have to be considered when discussing the final results of therapeutic trials in children with severe and persisting intra-uterine growth retardation.