Short stature in children with intrauterine growth retardation. New view of diagnostics and treatment

: One of the causes of short stature is IUGR. The body weight at the delivery of IUGR newborns is below 10th %ile compared to normal. The body weight at delivery is one of the factors influencing the final height of person. The height and the body weight of the children with low body weight at delivery is often much below normal during the first two years of their lives. Although more of them compensate this deficiency by the end of the second year of life, some of them are still affected and may never reach the genetically predicted height. The IUGR can be caused by the genetic and environmental factors, infection or fetal hypoxia. Avoiding the risk factors during pregnancy may prevent IUGR. IUGR affected children require special paediatric care and constant control of their growth and development. For the children with IUGR who did not catch-up their normal height there is a possibility to improve their final growth by GH therapy.