Pathophysiology
CGD is a global delay in development that affects every organ system. Delays in growth and sexual development are quantified by skeletal age, which is determined from bone age radiographic studies of the left hand and wrist. Growth and development are appropriate for an individual's biologic age (skeletal age) rather than for their chronologic age. Timing and tempo of growth and development are delayed in accordance with the biologic state of maturity.
Approximately 15% of patients with short stature referred for endocrinologic evaluation have CGD. Individuals with CGD and familial short stature represent another 23%. The frequency of CGD may be underestimated because individuals with milder delays and those who are not psychologically stressed may not be seen by subspecialists. In a study of 555 (out of 80,000) schoolchildren below the third percentile in height for age with growth rates below normal (<5 cm/y), twice as many boys as girls were affected. CGD was found in 28% of boys and 24% of girls, and another 18% of boys and 16% of girls had familial short stature in combination with CDG.
Read more about this topic: Constitutional Growth Delay