Dr. Deborah Rotenstein, Director of the Endocrine Division of Pediatric Alliance, in collaboration with the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, presented original data at the Pediatric Endocrine Society Meeting in Toronto, Canada on May 6, 2018. The topic of the poster presentation was the association of mild traumatic brain injury (such as concussions, falls, hits to the head from a ball or hockey puck, etc.) with changes in growth velocity and pubertal progression. The data, based on a review of 233 patients and 113 control patients from Pediatric Alliance, shows a relationship between a history of mild traumatic brain injury and pituitary dysfunction which has been observed in adults.
Mild traumatic brain injury from sports and play in childhood is very common and the data support how important it is for clinical followup of these patients for growth velocity and pubertal progression. As this was a retrospective study, prospective, longitudinal studies are planned in future.
The PediaBlog congratulates Dr. Rotenstein for the international recognition of her important work!
Deborah Rotenstein, M.D. and Jadranka Popovic, M.D. see patients at their Pediatric Alliance — Endocrinology office in Edgewood. Please call (412) 371-3000 for an appointment.