Growth, psychologic characteristics, and sleep-wakefulness cycle of children with sex chromosomal abnormalities.

This study of girls with Turner syndrome (16 cases) and boys with XXY (two cases) and XYY (eight cases) constitutions was designed to follow the longitudinal growth and to analyze the psychologic findings and the sleeping patterns in them. The growth curves of stature in Turner syndrome were below the 3rd percentile at all ages. The mean of SDS of height in cases less than 5 years old was -2.38, that in cases older than 6 years old -2.40. The shoulders in Turner syndrome have a tendency to broaden with time, in contrast to the development of the pelvis, which is not so good. The height of 47,XYY boys from infancy to 9 years of age was between the 10th and 90th percentiles, with one exception in which the height was above the 90th after 8 years of age. Relatively common psychologic findings in cases with Turner syndrome were as follows: low responsiveness to emotional stimuli, poor emotional expressions, passive and negative mental attitudes, low activity and low productivity, narrow and limited interests, passiveness and common sense adaptability, lower impulsiveness and aggressiveness, etc. The circadian oscillation was observed up to 3 years of age with shifting of the sleeping time to the night period. After that, day sleep gradually tends to decrease with age. Age variation in day and night sleep of an XXY boy was compared with that of a normal child. This showed the normal variation in circadian rhythms in early childhood, although the infant with this syndrome slept more, both day and night, than normal. In early childhood, no difference was noted. Similar studies were performed on a child with the chromosomal aberration XYY and revealed the sleep parameters to be quite normal in infancy and early childhood.