Short stature: a common feature in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

In a retrospective growth evaluation, which included parental height, birth length and a longitudinal analysis of growth and bone maturation, it has been shown that short stature is a common finding in Duchenne muscular dystrophy already in an early or even preclinical stage. Normal length and weight at birth, slow subsequent growth with a curve crossing the centiles in the 1st years of life, and normal bone maturation are characteristic of this type of short stature.