Letter to the Editor: "algorithms to Define Abnormal Growth in Children: External Validation and Head-to-Head Comparison"

[No abstract available]

New reference charts for testicular volume in Dutch children and adolescents allow the calculation of standard deviation scores

Aim Accurate calculations of testicular volume standard deviation (SD) scores are not currently available. We constructed LMS-smoothed age-reference charts for testicular volume in healthy boys. Methods The LMS method was used to calculate reference data, based on testicular volumes from ultrasonography and Prader orchidometer of 769 healthy...

Neonatale screening op congenitale hypothyreoïdie : ruim 30 jaar ervaring in Nederland [Neonatal screening for congenital hypothyroidism: more than 30 years of experience in the Netherlands]

Objective To describe the Dutch neonatal screening programme for congenital hypothyroidism (CH). Design Descriptive study. Method Data on neonatal screening for CH in the period 1 January 1981 through 31 December 2011 were obtained from the Department for Vaccine Supply and Prevention Programmes of the Dutch National Institute for Public Health...

Evidence-based guidelines for growth monitoring

Guidelines for growth monitoring can be established according to two approaches. According to the clinical approach, health workers are expected to base their assessment on the cumulative information from the medical history, physical examination and growth against a background of knowledge about the possible causes. The second approach is that...

Association between head circumference and body size

Background/Aims: Studies on the association between head circumference (HC) and height or weight have shown variable results. Methods: Using data from the Dutch nationwide survey performed in 1997 (n = 14,500), we calculated correlations for different ages, and fitted a regression model for the estimation of HC. HC versus height charts were...

Growth monitoring to detect children with cystic fibrosis

Background/Aims: Cystic fibrosis (CF) in infancy and childhood is often associated with failure to thrive (FTT). This would suggest that in countries without a newborn screening program for CF, FTT could be used as a clinical screening tool. The aim of this study is to assess the diagnostic performance of FTT for identifying children with CF....

Developing evidence-based guidelines for referral for short stature

Objective: To establish evidence based guidelines for growth monitoring on a population basis. Study design: Several auxological referral criteria were formulated and applied to longitudinal growth data from four different patient groups, as well as three samples from the general population. Results: Almost 30% of pathology can be detected by...

Screening rules for growth to detect celiac disease: A case-control simulation study

Background: It is generally assumed that most patients with celiac disease (CD) have a slowed growth in terms of length (or height) and weight. However, the effectiveness of slowed growth as a tool for identifying children with CD is unknown. Our aim is to study the diagnostic efficiency of several growth criteria used to detect CD children....

The diagnostic work up of growth failure in secondary health care ; An evaluation of consensus guidelines

Background: As abnormal growth might be the first manifestation of undetected diseases, it is important to have accurate referral criteria and a proper diagnostic work-up. In the present paper we evaluate the diagnostic work-up in secondary health care according to existing consensus guidelines and study the frequency of underlying medical...

Referral patterns of children with poor growth in primary health care

Background. To promote early diagnosis and treatment of short stature, consensus meetings were held in the mid nineteen nineties in the Netherlands and the UK. This resulted in guidelines for referral. In this study we evaluate the referral pattern of short stature in primary health care using these guidelines, comparing it with cut-off values...

Growth monitoring and diagnostic work-up of short stature: An International Inventorization

Background/Aims: Growth monitoring is almost universally performed, but few data are available on which referral criteria and diagnostic work-up are used worldwide for children with short stature. Methods: A short questionnaire, containing questions on auxological screening and on diagnostic criteria for short stature, was sent to all members of...

Pubertal development in The Netherlands 1965-1997

Prediction of height achievement at five years of age in children born very preterm or with very low birth weight: Continuation of catch-up growth after two years of age

To predict height at five years in a cohort of 565 very preterm and/or very low-birth-weight children, hypothesized growth determinants were subjected to discriminant analysis. Many neonatal parameters were not significantly associated with short stature at five years of age. A correct classification of stature (smaller/larger than the 10th...