What this study looked at
The mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) are rare inherited disorders that disrupt normal growth and development. This study set out to describe the general growth of children with MPS I and MPS II by retrospectively analysing anthropometric data from 76 patients and plotting their growth against reference charts.
Key takeaways
- At birth, body length was greater than the reference charts across all the MPS groups studied.
- Growth patterns were similar for all patients up to about 30 months of age, after which they began to diverge between the different groups.
- Height fell below the 3rd percentile at different ages depending on the condition — around 30 months for boys with Hurler syndrome, later for severe MPS II, and later still for the attenuated form of MPS II.
Why it matters
Because growth patterns reflect the clinical severity of MPS, tracking them may help clinicians evaluate how well available therapies are working.
