Dr. Leenatha Reddy and Dr. Sarah

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27

Feb

Growth Clinic from Thursday 4 to 6 PM at Rainbow Children's Hospital

The Growth Clinic at Rainbow Children’s Hospitals, offer a unique and individualized approach in the assessment of a child with concerns about his/her growth. A child’s growth measured by height and weight is evaluated to be either less or more as compared to his/her peers based on normal standards according to age and gender. At our Growth clinic we provide a comprehensive and orderly approach to each child, with a detailed history and physical examination followed by baseline investigations for growth disorders. As a second step, additional specialized tests including hormone stimulation tests, genetic screening and imaging scans can be done if required.

· Normal growth is an ongoing process from birth into adolescence and identifying any abnormal growth pattern early at a young age is of paramount importance

· Growth measurements including height, weight and body mass index (BMI) which must be measured at every well child visit and plotted on gender specific growth chart to see if the child is following his/her growth curves. Slow growth is a concern and can lead to severe short stature.

· Measuring a child’s height regularly helps in identifying a child with abnormal growth velocity who is lagging behind peers in height.

· Slow growth velocity is a concern, and if it goes unrecognized can ultimately lead to severe short stature as an adolescent and adult.

· Children who are short can be of normal or abnormal weight (both of which are a concern) and must be evaluated to identify the underlying cause.

· Children who were born with low birth weight (<2.5Kgs) are at risk of slow growth resulting in short adult height

· Abnormal growth could be due to several causes including nutritional reasons, hormonal disorders, chronic illness or genetic conditions.

· The primary aim of the Growth Clinic is to identify growth problems early so that appropriate evaluation and treatment in most situations will allow the child to achieve his/her growth potential successfully

Some of the common problems in children include

· Familial Short stature

· Constitutional delay in growth and puberty

· Growth hormone deficiency

· Small for gestational age failing to show catch up in growth by 3 years of age

· Genetic conditions like Turners syndrome and Down’s syndrome

Some rare conditions which may result in growth problem’s include

· Skeletal dysplasia

· Rickets (other than Vitamin D deficiency)

· Noonan’s syndrome

· Prader Willi syndrome

· IGF1 deficiency

· Russel Silverman Syndrome

· Pituitary defects

· Other Single Gene defects