Severe Failure to Thrive

Updated on October 18, 2010
M.D. asks from Salt Lake City, UT
5 answers

My son will soon turn 5 and weighs 9kg. He is roughly the height of average 18 mnth old. Cognitively he does very well. He is on target or ahead. Developmentally the same. Nothing seems off except he isn't growing much. He was screened for metabolic disorders and results came back negative to everything. My question is simply... what do I do now? And are you aware of similiar cases?

More background on my son:
he weighed 1.2 kilo. Upon birth
2 months premature
no complication at birth
has always been slow to grow and gain
weight
he is proportionate and dwarfism was also ruled out
endocrinologists want to do work up for growth hormone injections but have said he doesn't show any of the signs of a deficiency with pituatary gland with exception of his height and weight.

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So What Happened?

Thank you for all of your insight and ideas. Will ask about having the MRI done for the petuitary gland.
forms of Dwarfism and midget were ruled out from the lab work and genetic screening. As well as the lack of physical characteristics such as voice limb growth and head growth. However your insight is enough for me to go back to dr and ask more questions. He is the cutest boy ever and as his one year old sister starts passing him in heigth and weight I'm sure questions from him will soon follow. Thanks again for your thoughts

More Answers

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J.K.

answers from Phoenix on

Celiac's disease can cause this and some food allergies can prevent absorption of foods and vitamins etc. If food allergy blood test come back negative, get muscle testing from an alternative doctor like a chiropractor or homeopathic doctor. Good luck!!

2 moms found this helpful
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J.B.

answers from Atlanta on

I'm assuming since dwarfism was ruled out that he was tested for being a little person (non-PC term -midget)? There are differences in dwarves and "midgets" -sorry -I'm not sure what they prefer to be called now except for little people. They are proportionate and basically look normal except they're very short. My 4.5 year old encountered a lady at the grocery store last week, who was fortunately very kind, because before I could catch him he was staring at her in her face! They were the same height, but of course she was an adult woman, so he was quite intrigued. Maybe your son is the same way? Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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K.U.

answers from Detroit on

I saw a show on Discovery channel about a condition called primordial dwarfism...I know you said dwarfism was ruled out but this type is extremely rare...basically they are just small all over (unlike many "little people" that actually have normal-sized torsos and heads but shortened legs and arms) but have other distinctive features as well. Of course, I cannot tell you if that is what is going on. Is there another specialist you can see or second opinion that you can get elsewhere?

1 mom found this helpful
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L.L.

answers from Topeka on

Has he had an MRI done in the pituatary gland? My neighbor has a son who is now 12 my son is 7 & has been the tallest.He does hormone shots but now doesn't want to do them any more he gains weight fine the height just isn't there I tell her not to worry his father is short but even with the calculations he still isn't measureing up to where he should be.

K.C.

answers from Barnstable on

I have to agree with the primordial Dwarfism . . . and as far as I know, there are literally 1000s of forms of dwarfism.

This is a blog on primordial dwarfism, though because he is on target developmentally, it may not apply to him . . .http://littlejordansprimordialworld.com/

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