How will growth problems be assessed?
At each hospital visit, height and weight are recorded on a growth chart and are reviewed by the health-care team.
Being small does not by itself mean that a child has growth hormone deficiency (GHD). There are many factors to be considered. A review of the growth velocity (speed of growth), stage in puberty and occasionally, an X-ray of the wrist (called a "bone age"), will be compared to expected ranges for children of the same sex and age. Heights of both parents also help identify a child’s genetic potential.
Occasionally, a half-day visit to the hospital may be arranged to evaluate growth hormone levels in the blood. It is important to follow growth over the long-term because growth problems may not occur for several years after treatment.