Causes of Short Stature in Children Referred to a Tertiary Care Center in Southeast of Iran: 2018-2020

Background: short stature is a common problem encountered by endocrinologists. shortstature may be due to normal variations of growth or pathologic process. evaluation of shortstature and its causes in any community can be effective in reducing physical and mental illnessin children.objectives: the objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency of common causes ofshort stature in children referring to the endocrinology clinic.methods: this prospective and descriptive study was carried out between august 2018 andseptember 2020. included criteria were age below 18 years, height more than 2 sd below themean for age (< 3rd percentile), growth failure (< 4 cm/year), small for mid-parental height, andadequate follow-up. they were evaluated by anthropometric measurements, biochemical panel,hormonal tests, radiological studies, and hormonal provocative tests.results: a total of 509 cases, including 238 males (46.8%) and 271 females (53.2%) had shortstature. the age of participants varied from 2-18 years. the mean chronological age was11.83±3.44 years. most study participants were over 10 years old (68%). normal variants ofgrowth with 271 (53.34%) children, were the most prevalent causes. these causes were in threesubgroups: familial short stature: 133 (26.14%), constitutional delay of growth and puberty:112 (22%), and idiopathic short stature: 26 (5.12%). totally 238 cases (46.66%) were due topathologic types of short stature. the leading cause of short stature in this group was growthhormone deficiency, which was seen in 70 (13.76%) patients.conclusions: the normal variants of short stature as a group were the most common cause of shortstature, followed by endocrinological causes of short stature and non-endocrinological causes.