Puberty and Growth in Patients with Pediatric Intestinal Failure
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Read the article on jpedsurg.org ↗Article · Feb 2022 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
Study examining puberty timing and growth patterns in 110 pediatric intestinal failure patients found earlier pubertal onset and preserved peak height velocity compared to population norms, but 20% had short stature. Findings emphasize optimizing prepubertal growth in this population to maximize final adult height despite preserved pubertal growth spurts.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Background
: Pediatric intestinal failure (PIF) affects nutrition, metabolism, and endocrine development, but its downstream impact on puberty is unknown.
Methods
: A retrospective review was performed of patients age >8 years with PIF managed at an intestinal rehabilitation program. Outcomes of interest were peak height velocity (PHV), age at PHV, and age at pubertal onset (Tanner stage 2). Outcomes were stratified by sex and compared to established norms.
Results
: Of 110 patients with PIF, 54.5% were male. Compared to the CDC 50th percentile, PHV in PIF patients was similar for females (8.09±2.36 vs. 7.37cm/yr;p=0.23) but significantly higher for males (9.27±2.56 vs. 7.91cm/yr;p=0.038). Age at PHV in PIF patients was significantly younger for both males (12.31±2.14 vs. 13.38 years;p=0.049) and females (10.70±1.06 vs. 11.71 years;p=0.001). PIF patients reached pubertal onset earlier than published norms; this was significant for males (12.41±1.80 vs. 13.44 years;p=0.014), but not for females (10.45±1.81 vs. -11.15 years;p=0.13). The mean height-for-age Z-score was -1.2, with 20% of patients having a Z-score less than -2.
Conclusions
: Pubertal onset and growth are neither delayed nor diminished in patients with PIF. The high incidence of short stature, however, highlights the importance of optimizing prepubertal linear growth to attain full height potential.