No abstract

Synthetic thyrotropin-releasing factor (TRF) administered iv induced a significant rise within 5 min in the concentration of plasma prolactin and plasma TSH in 13 children with constitutional short stature (Group I ) , 13 patients with isolated growth hormone deficiency (Group II), and in 13 patients with idiopathic hypopituitary dwarfism, including TSH deficiency (Group III). The mean peak concentration of plasma prolactin was 25.2 ng/ml for Group I, 27.7 ng/ml for Group II, and 20.9 ng/ml for Group III. These values were not significantly different from one group to another. The mean peak concentration of plasma TSH was 20.7 (xU/ml for Group I, 19.

One hundred eighty-two consecutive newborns from a university-based private practice were enrolled in a comprehensive nutritional program in an attempt to lower the incidence of ponderosity in the group. The program emphasized an individualized approach in which the feeding instructions given to parents varied with the growth pattern of their child. Whereas specific modalities of feeding, such as breast vs. bottle and early vs. late addition of baby foods, appeared not to modify growth, the group as a whole exhibited a trend to lower weight-for-length index (WLI) and less ponderosity than in previous published reports. We propose that the individualized nutritional program may have resulted in this improvement, and that such attention to detail will likely be more rewarding than an approach which emphasizes only general nutritional information to the group as a whole.