Growth Delay in Children: Experience of the Department of Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases at the Children's Hospital of Rabat

Objective: The aim of our study is to describe the epidemiological, clinical and biological aspects of staturo-ponderal delay and to deduce the main etiologies. Material and Methods: the study was carried out on 141 patients (78 boys and 63 girls). Patients ranged in age from 9 months to 17 years (mean: 9 years 1 month) with a statural delay that varied from -2DS to -5DS (mean: -2.5DS). Results: Analysis of the data showed a frequency of 13.5% of patients with severe growth retardation, 35% of whom had a growth hormone deficiency. The hormonal assessment showed a GH deficiency in 43% of patients with a greater difference in chronological age and bone age (2.5 years) than in non-deficient patients (2 years). Among them, 51% of patients have an elevated TSH. Magnetic resonance imaging performed in 37 cases was in favor of a pituitary anomaly in 12% of cases, including interruption of the pituitary stem (4% of cases), hypoplasia (3% of cases), an adenoma (1% of cases) and an empty sella turcica in 4% of cases. Conclusion: Severe central growth retardation is common. Systematic monitoring and follow-up of growth is essential in children, as is vaccination, in order to identify and manage early any causal pathology that may disrupt the child's growth.