Background: Psychosocial short stature (PSS) is a rare disorder associated with emotional deprivation. Growth recovery lines (GRLs), the radiodense bands in metaphyseal bones, are indicators of stress.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of using GRLs in the distal radius to identify PSS.
Participants and setting: This retrospective cohort study included children 15-138 months of age with short stature whose hands and wrists were radiographed between 2011 and 2020 at Matsuyama Red Cross Hospital in Japan.
Methods: PSS was determined if a child with short stature had been reported to be abused or neglected. Other pathological short statures were diagnosed per the established criteria. GRLs, height velocity before and after specific treatment, insulin-like growth factor 1, and the difference between chronological and skeletal age were assessed.
Results: The PSS and other short stature groups comprised of 7 and 11 children, respectively. The body mass index of the PSS group was smaller than that of other short stature group (-1.15 standard deviation [SD] vs. 0.57 SD, P = 0.003). The PSS group had significantly more GRLs than the other group (5.3 vs. 0.5, P = 0.011). Height velocity before treatment in the PSS group was significantly lower (-5.46 SD vs. -1.86 SD, P = 0.005), with no significant differences in other variables. The specificity for PSS was >90% when children with short stature had at least three GRLs in both distal radii.
Conclusions: Abuse or neglect should be considered in children with short stature having multiple GRLs in the distal radius.
Keywords: Child abuse; Growth recovery lines; Neglect; Psychosocial short stature; Radiography.
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