Egypt
Postnatal Growth
A 2008 study of ~28,000 infants and children in Egypt created head circumference charts (1). The study is freely available here. Tables 1 and 2 show head circumference curves for boys and girls aged 1 month to 24 months/2 years. Figures 3 and 4 show head circumference curves for boys and girls aged 3 years to 18 years.
Down Syndrome
The PDF files in this section were created from a study of 434 children with non-disjunction trisomy 21 between the ages of birth and 3 years. (2) Other than having Down syndrome, the children were healthy: they did not have congenital heart disease, gastrointestinal malformations, hypothyroidism, or blood disorders. The group was 54.4% male and 45.6% female. Overall, the researchers made 1,955 observations for weight, length and head circumference.
The curves here were made from values in a table in the paper. We have not smoothed them, nor did the study authors. Therefore, they may contain some features not typical of such curves, such as bumps and deflection at data points.
Turner Syndrome (TS)
Turner syndrome (TS) is a condition that affects only girls. Its most common sign is short stature, which occurs in in 100% of cases. Girls with TS are smaller than most infants at birth, and they fall off the growth charts quickly. Without treatment, the average adult woman with TS is only 4 feet 8 inches tall, but girls who receive growth hormones may grow to the low end of the normal height range. Girls with TS also need estrogen therapy to help them develop physically, and they may have to continue taking it as adults. Fertility problems are very common in TS. In many cases, they are due to an underdeveloped or absent uterus and abnormalities with the ovaries. However, this problem is not universal, and some women with TS can become pregnant with assistance from reproductive therapy. Heart problems, kidney problems, and thyroid problems are also common in TS. Overall intelligence in most girls and women with TS is usually normal, but some people may have problems with math and manual dexterity. In addition, and in childhood especially, relations with other children may be challenging due to poor social skills.
TS is caused by a damaged or missing X chromosome. It is the most common sex chromosome disorder in females, with estimates that one girl in 2,500 has TS. For more information about TS in English, visit our Turner syndrome web page or the Turner Syndrome pages of the Mayo Clinic.
Growth Curves
The curves in this section were created from a study of 93 girls with laboratory-diagnosed Turner syndrome (3). They had all visited the Clinical Genetics Department in the National Research Centre in Cairo. Patients were aged 6 months to 24 years, and none of them had been treated with growth hormones. The authors compared growth in TS patients to the Eqyptian standards.
References
- 1. Zaki ME et al (2008) Head circumference reference data for Egyptian children and adolescents. E Med Health J 14(1):69-81. Abstract on PubMed. Full text from the WHO.
- 2. Afifi HH et al. (2012) Growth Charts of Down Syndrome in Egypt: A Study of 434 Children 0-36 Months of Age. Am J Med Gen A 158A:2647-2655. Full text from publisher.
- 3. El-Bassyouni HT et al. (2012) Growth curves of Egyptian patients with Turner syndrome. Am J Med Gen A 158A:2687-2691. Full text from publisher.
