Multiple stress fractures in a young female runner.

The effect of exercise on female's bone metabolism has received much attention in recent years. We report on unusual case of a female runner with low body mass and amenorrhea, who suffered 4 stress fractures. Three of the stress fractures occurred during her sports career, and the fourth occurred 7 years after the cessation of sports activities. It seems that exercise-induced amenorrhea together with food restriction in the young age may cause long-term consequences on bone metabolism.

A longitudinal study of growth velocity and development of secondary gender characteristics versus onset of idiopathic scoliosis.

This study focused on evaluating the impact of the adolescent growth spurt on the onset of idiopathic scoliosis. A total of 698 students (362 girls and 336 boys aged nine to 12 years) were followed for three years to study their growth in the pubertal period and changes in spinal status. Every six months measurements were taken of body height and the development of secondary gender characteristics was recorded. The onset of the adolescent growth spurt could thus be detected in each child. When children with and without scoliosis were compared, it became evident that scoliotic children grew faster. Girls whose scoliosis developed from a previously normal body posture showed a peak height velocity (PHV) of 8.1 cm per year, whereas girls with a normal body posture throughout the pubertal stage had a PHV of 7.1 cm per year. The most rapid growth spurt was observed in Stages 2 and 3 of breast and pubic hair development. Simultaneously, the most frequent spinal status changes occurred in Stages 2 and 3 of sexual maturity; they were twice as frequent as in Stage 1 and four times as frequent as in Stages 4 and 5. Students in whom scoliosis developed in puberty during the adolescent growth spurt grew faster than their peers who did not develop scoliosis, which need not imply that they will eventually be taller after growth is completed.

[Pubertal dynamics of growth and spinal scoliosis]. / Pubertetski zamah rasta i skolioza kraljesnice.

By means of longitudinal observation of growth of 698 pupils in the period of predicted puberty, the dynamics of changes in spine status was observed in relation to accelerated growth. At the beginning of observation, when the majority of pupils were in the period prior to puberty, the prevalence of scolioses with side curve being higher than 10 degrees, according to Cobb, was 1.57%. In those three years that were observed, the majority of pupils developed secondary sexual characteristics followed by adolescent impetus of growth. At the same time of the development of puberty, the spine status started to change in the way that the incidence of scoliosis was tripled with the same children and amounted to 4.87%. At the same time even the number of children having asymmetrical bodies of scoliotic posture increased from 20.9% to 28.8%. Children having regular posture of their bodies before the puberty, almost in three quarters of cases retained the same status. When the status of spine was changed the regular posture also changed to scoliotic one, and vice versa. Such a scoliotic posture was interpreted as a physiological variation of normal appearance of body and not as an important factor of risk in the development of scoliosis. Only 8.9% of children having scoliotic posture in puberty, developed scoliosis. Those children that developed scoliosis in puberty although they had normal postures started to grow at one moment faster and more intensively than their healthy colleagues.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)