Growth hormone in adolescence. Normal and abnormal.

The adolescent growth spurt is one of the dramatic physical changes that accompanies pubertal development. The rate of growth during the adolescent growth spurt is greater than at any other time of life after infancy. In this article, the pathophysiology of normal adolescent growth is reviewed, factors that control growth in adolescence are addressed, and the growth hormone deficiency syndromes presenting in adolescence are discussed.