Pediatric endocrine diseases had been known to occur rarely until several years ago, however, these days many physicians begin to notice that pediatric endocrine diseases are not rare. Especially since Korean economy has been better, many Korean
people
have realized that short stature itself is a disease entity. At the same time, children and adolescents are deeply interested in their stature, because they tend to relate higher stature to better quality of life. Therefore, they visit growth
clinics
and many of them have been found to have pediatric endocrine disorders, presenting as short stature. There are many pediatric endocrine disorders, which present as short stature, such as hypopituitarism (growth hormone deficiency), Turner
syndrome,
disorders with precocious puberty (true precocious puberty, pseudoprecocious puberty and congenital adrenal hyperplasia), and congenital or acquired hypothyroidism. These disorders should be treated adequately to alleviate the clinical
manifestations
and promote the final adult height. However, most of the children and adolescents who visit growth clinics with short stature have normal short stature variant. They do not need growth hormone to promote their final stature. Additionally, most
chronic
disorders, such as chronic renal failure, chronic bowel disease, and chronic lung disease, also may present growth failure, which should be adeqautely managed to promote patients’ quality of life.
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