Symptoms:

• Absent or delayed sexual development in an adolescent
• Excessive thirst with excessive urination
• Headaches
• Increased urine volume
• Short stature -- below 5th percentile on a standardized growth chart, an adult less than 5 feet tall
• Slow growth before age 5
• Slowed or absent increase in height

Signs and tests:

A physical examination including weight, height, and body proportions will show signs of slowed growth rate and deviation from normal growth curves.

Tests may include the following:

• DEXA (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) can also determine bone age.
• Hand x-ray can determine bone age.
• Measurement of growth hormone and associated binding protein levels (IGF-I and IGFBP-3) reveals if the growth problem is caused by dysfunction of the pituitary gland.
• MRI of the head can show the hypothalamus and pituitary glands.
• Tests to measure other hormone levels (lack of growth hormone may not be the only problem).
• X-ray of head may show problems with the skull, such as small, enlarged, or empty sella, or a space-occupying lesion.