Change in the height of Korean children and adolescents: analysis from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey II and V / 소아과

PURPOSE: The mean adult height of Koreans has increased since nationwide anthropological measurements began in 1967. The objective of this study was to evaluate differences in heights of Korean late adolescents and young adults within and between the Second and Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES II and V). METHODS: Koreans aged < or =22 years with available measurements of height were enrolled from the KNHANES surveys (KNHANES II: n=3,372 [1,732 males and 1,640 females]; KNHANES V: n=6,190 [3,198 males and 2,992 females]). Differences in the height of KNHANES respondents within and between surveys were evaluated according to age and sex. RESULTS: In KNHANES II, there was no significant difference in height between males aged 17-19 years and those aged 20-22 years (174.3+/-0.5 cm vs. 174.3+/-0.6 cm, P=0.995). Females aged 20-22 years were taller than those aged 17-19 years (159.8+/-0.4 cm vs. 161.0+/-0.4 cm, P=0.017). Females aged 17-19 years were significantly taller in KNHANES V than in KNHANES II (161.2+/-0.3 cm vs. 159.8+/-0.4 cm, P=0.004). Respondents aged 20-22 years were taller in KNHANES V than in KNHANES II, although not significantly so; the difference was 0.3+/-0.8 cm in males (P=0.721) and 0.5+/-0.6 cm in females (P=0.386). CONCLUSION: Koreans appear to continue growing even in their late adolescence and early twenties. Consequently, it may be necessary to expand the reference age ranges of the Korean growth chart. Additionally, a longitudinal growth survey is needed to determine growth patterns and secular trend in height among Koreans.

Basal luteinizing hormone and follicular stimulating hormone: is it sufficient for the diagnosis of precocious puberty in girls?

PURPOSE: A gonadotropin-releasing hormone stimulation test (GnRHST) is the gold standard in diagnosing central precocious puberty (CPP). The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of basal gonadotropin levels for girls with suspected precocious puberty and to evaluate the factors affecting positive results of the GnRHST. METHODS: Korean girls with early pubertal development who visited the clinic during 2010-2012 were included. Auxological and biochemical tests were evaluated and a standard GnRHST was performed. A peak luteinizing hormone (LH) level of > or =5 IU/L was considered a positive response during the GnRHST. RESULTS: A total of 336 girls were included. The positive responses were observed in 241 girls (71.7%), and negative responses were found in 95 girls (28.3%). In the logistic regression analysis, the coefficient of the basal LH and basal LH/follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio was 4.23 (P<0.001) and 21.28 (P<0.001), respectively. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that the basal LH/FSH ratio is a better predictor of the pubertal result after the GnRHST than the basal LH (area under the curve was 0.745 and 0.740, respectively; P=0.027). Among 189 girls with a basal LH of <0.1 IU/L, 105 (55.6%) had positive responses. CONCLUSION: An elevated level of the basal LH and basal LH/FSH ratio was a significant predicting factor of positive responses during the GnRHST. However a GnRHST was still necessary for diagnostic confirmation of CPP because more than half of the girls with a basal LH level below the detection limit revealed to have CPP.