Today the pediatric endocrinologists at UMHAT "St. Marina" - Varna reported the results obtained in the large-scale campaign for early diagnosis and timely treatment of growth disorders GROWINFORM, which was launched in 2017. "So far, within the campaign, pediatric endocrinologists have conducted free examinations for patients in ten cities across the country. Besides Varna the cities of Shumen, Razgrad, Burgas, Gabrovo, Veliko Tarnovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Burgas, Sliven and Yambol were visited, where 146 children, aged 2 - 8, were examined. 52 of them were diagnosed with abnormalities. Successful treatment was started in twelve children, and twenty-two are under observation for initiation of treatment," said Dr. Violeta Yotova, Head of Pediatrics Department at UMHAT "St. Marina". "The age being diagnosed has been reduced by three years, which is a prerequisite for success of the undertaken therapy," the specialist added. Pediatric endocrinologists also reported that growth variations were normal in 16 of the examined children.
Physical growth monitoring is an important step in monitoring children's health. Growth slowdown, even accelerated growth, can be an early indicator of an underlying medical condition. Growth monitoring over the time is essential because it helps to identify trends.
A website ( www.growinform.org ) was created for the project of the Varna Pediatric Endocrine Society, which allows for a preliminary growth assessment.
The campaign will also continue during the following year because more than 2/3 of children with growth disorders remain undiagnosed. "This is a consequence of the poor awareness of general practitioners and parents," the doctors of "St. Marina" explained. The campaign is becoming national due to the great interest. During the next two months the "Clinic on Wheels" is going to visit the cities of Burgas, Plovdiv and Kyustendil. The campaign is completely free for the patients, both diagnosis and treatment of children.
The meeting was held on the occasion of the Growth Awareness Week, which is celebrated from 16th to 22nd September 2018 in a number of countries around the world. Free examinations of children were conducted at Diagnostic Consulting Centrе "St. Marina".
Velina Markovska
