Longitudinal analysis of growth over the first 3 years of life in Turner'ssyndrome

Objective: To evaluate longitudinal growth in Turner's syndrome (TS) over t he first 3 years of life. Methods: Growth of 47 patients with TS was compared with that of 40 age-mat ched control girls by using an analysis according to the Infancy-Childhood- Puberty and bi-exponential models. Results: A mean of 1.2 SDs were lost before birth and a total of 3.0 SDs we re lost by age 3 years. According to the Infancy-Childhood-puberty model, i ntrauterine growth retardation contributed -1.24 SDs, a 5-month delay in ch ildhood growth spurt contributed -0.96 SDs, and slow childhood growth contr ibuted an additional -0.8 SDs by age 3 years. The bi-exponential analysis d isclosed a quasi-linear first exponent and a confining second exponent, whi ch merged at age 18 months in control subjects and 24 months in patients wi th TS. The first exponent confers an average annual growth rate of 8.4 cm/y in control subjects and 6.7 cm/y in patients with TS. Conclusions: Intrauterine growth retardation and the initial 3 Sears of lif e contribute most of the deficit in the final height of patients with TS. T hese data provide a reference of standards for longitudinal growth in patie nts with TS at age 3 months to 3 years.