Growth And Maturation In Children With Autism

患有自闭症和自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的儿童在社交、语言和非语言交流以及对感官刺激的反应方面存在缺陷。虽然自闭症的病因尚不清楚，但在几项研究中发现，患有自闭症和自闭症谱系障碍的儿童有较高的大头畸形患病率，而且平均身高似乎高于一般人群。自闭症儿童的生长模式和成熟标志尚未得到详细研究。脱氢表雄酮硫酸盐（DHEA-S）是肾上腺成熟的标志，在儿童早期较低，但在生长中期（约6-8岁）增加。先前的一项研究显示，与正常对照相比，自闭症儿童的DHEA-S浓度似乎有所升高，这引发了人们的疑问，即自闭症儿童早期DHEA-S浓度升高可能与头部和体型较大有关。其他评估自闭症儿童成熟程度的方法，如骨龄，尚未被探索。我们将使用横断面数据从3个方面评估自闭症/ASD儿童的生长和成熟：1)将4 - 8岁自闭症/ASD儿童的身高、体重、体重指数（BMI）和头围与发育正常的年龄、性别和种族匹配的对照组进行比较，2)将自闭症/ASD儿童的DHEA-S水平与发育正常的对照组进行比较，3)将自闭症/ASD儿童的骨龄与参考人群进行比较。

Children with autism and autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) suffer from defects in socialization, verbal and nonverbal communication, and response to sensory stimuli. While the cause of autism is unknown, children with autism and ASD have been noted in several studies to have a high prevalence of macrocephaly and appear to be taller on average than the general population. Growth patterns and markers of maturation in autistic children have not been studied in detail. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), a marker for adrenal maturation, is low in early childhood but increases during the mid-growth spurt (about age 6-8). DHEA-S concentration appeared to be elevated in autistic children compared with normal controls in one previous study, raising questions about the possibility that early elevations of DHEA-S in autistic children may be associated with large head and body size. Other methods of assessing maturation in autistic children, such as bone age, have not been explored. We will use cross-sectional data to assess growth and maturation of children with autism/ASD in 3 ways: 1) the height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and head circumference children with autism/ASD between 4 and 8 years of age will be compared with developmentally normal age-, gender-, and race-matched controls, 2) DHEA-S levels children with autism/ASD will be compared with the same developmentally normal controls, and 3) bone age in children with autism/ASD will be compared with reference populations. Case children are currently being recruited from a clinic where a large number of autistic children are seen. Control children are being recruited at an outpatient surgery facility where tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy procedures are performed. Recruitment is underway, but not yet complete.