White matter abnormalities in pediatric idiopathic growth hormone deficiency: A DTI study using TBSS analysis

Idiopathic growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) is an important and unknown causes of pediatric short stature. Although grey matter morphological changes in the cerebral cortex of IGHD have been proved, the knowledge about white matter (WM) is poorly investigated. Whether the mental status of IGHD children is associated with WM abnormalities is unclear. In this study, 50 pediatric with IGHD and 48 age- and gender-matched typically developing (TD) children included for TBSS analysis. Our results indicated that IGHD children showed the WM abnormalities (especially in bilateral posterior corona radiata), which are correlated with behavioral and mental problems.