Growth in children and adolescents with mitochondrial diseases

There is evidence that children with mitochondrial diseases tend to have short stature, but the growth of these patients has not been assessed in detail. We calculated the standard deviation (SD) of height, weight and body mass index (BMI) of 58 children and adolescents between the ages of 1.5 months and 18 years with a proven diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases. Overall, 31.03% of recorded heights, 29.31% of weights and 39.65% of BMIs were more than 2SD below the mean. In the group of children with encephalomyopathic forms of mitochondrial diseases, 34.09% of heights and weights, and 43.18% of BMIs were more than 2SD below the mean, while in the group with myopathic forms 21.42% of weights, 14.28% of heights and 28.57% of BMIs were more than 2SD below the mean. These results suggest that mitochondrial diseases are an important cause of short stature and of reduction in BMI in children and adolescents, particularly the encephalomyopathic forms.