Patient's question:
I am 16 years old, but my height is still 14. It is said that boys can still grow until they are 20, so I want to grow. Recently, I have been doing activities like running and playing basketball, but I feel like it's not very effective. Is dwarfism congenital?Doctor's answer:
Dwarfism can be classified into primary and secondary forms. Primary dwarfism is often caused by congenital developmental abnormalities or genetic diseases, possibly due to autosomal recessive inheritance across generations, with a family history of isolated growth hormone deficiency. Males are more affected than females, with a sex ratio of approximately 2 to 4:10. Primary pituitary dwarfism involves variations such as congenital pituitary hypoplasia, congenital pituitary dysgenesis with either decreased or increased eosinophils, and pituitary enlargement, fibrosis, or cystic changes accompanied by fibrosis. In addition to pituitary abnormalities, it often accompanies varying degrees of enlargement of the gonads, thyroid, and adrenal cortex, as well as stunted visceral and skeletal growth that remains at the juvenile stage.