Growth hormone deficiency

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Endocrine glands

Height/weight chart

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Growth hormone deficiency

Alternative Names:

Panhypopituitarism; Dwarfism; Pituitary dwarfism

Symptoms:

Slowed or absent increase in height
Slow growth before age 5
Short stature -- below 5th percentile on a standardized growth chart, an adult less than 5 feet tall
Absent or delayed sexual development in an adolescent
Headaches
Excessive thirst with excessive urination
Increased urine volume

Signs and tests:

A physical examination including weight, height, and body proportions will show signs of slowed growth rate and deviation from normal growth curves.

Tests include the following:

A determination of bone age from hand x-ray is often recommended. Bone age can also be determined by DEXA (Dual Energy Xray Absorptiometry).
Measurement of growth hormone and associated binding protein levels (IGF-I and IGFBP-3) confirms that the disorder is caused by dysfunction of the pituitary gland.
Other hormone levels should be determined, as lack of growth hormone may not be an isolated problem.
An x-ray may show skull abnormalities such as small, enlarged, or empty sella or a space-occupying lesion.
An MRI scan of the head may be ordered to visualize the hypothalamus and pituitary glands.

Review Date: 5/6/2004
Reviewed By: Samuel Blackman, M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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