Growth potential and skeletal maturity in children with chronic renal insufficiency.

The growth potential of 27 boys with varying degrees of chronic renal insufficiency has been determined from their present height centile for both bone age and chronological age. With increasing age their growth potential diminishes. The delay in bone age is greatest in those children whose disease dates from infancy, but does not correlate with their present state of renal function. Bone age continues to advance in the presence of severe osteodystrophy and growth arrest. Knowledge of the growth potential of children with chronic renal failure is of relevance in interpreting the height increments observed following renal transplantation. Serial determination of bone age is therefore an important aspect of their clinical management.