Delayed puberty may impact adult height in girls with CKD
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WASHINGTON — Although median age at menarche did not differ between girls with chronic kidney disease and those without CKD, research presented at ASN Kidney Week found girls with CKD who experienced delayed menarche were more likely to have short stature in adulthood.
“Children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have delays in normal growth and pubertal development,” Hannah Kim, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, and colleagues wrote in a poster abstract. “We aimed to describe factors associated with delayed puberty including short stature among children with CKD.”
Using data from the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children study, researchers considered delayed puberty and the likelihood of short stature. Delayed puberty was defined as menarche at age 15 years or older and short stature was defined as last available height two standard deviations below projected mid-parental height. Median age at menarche was 12 years.
Although they noted median age at menarche was similar among girls with CKD and those without (determined with data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), researchers observed that 10% of girls with CKD had delayed menarche. Those with delayed menarche were more likely to be African American, had lower eGFR and had longer CKD duration at time of menarche. Furthermore, for girls with CKD, delayed menarche was associated with lower height and weight percentiles, with 61% having short stature compared with 35% of girls without delayed menarche.
Researchers concluded delayed menarche “may negatively impact final adult height” for girls with CKD. – by Melissa J. Webb
Reference:
Kim H, et al. Abstract TH-PO756. Presented at: ASN Kidney Week; Nov. 7-10, 2019; Washington, D.C.
Disclosure: Healio Nephrology could not determine relevant financial disclosures prior to publication.