Abstract

RIDAURA-SANZ, Cecilia; MURATA, Chiharu; YSUSI-MENDOZA, Fátima  and  LEAL-LEAL, Carlos. Weight and height in mexican children with retinoblastoma. Acta pediatr. Méx [online]. 2015, vol.36, n.2, pp.81-88. ISSN 2395-8235.

Purpose: We investigated the prevalence of low weight and height in a population of Mexican children afflicted with retinoblastoma; we correlate these anthropometric measurements with characteristics of the disease and variables in the environment. Methods: There were 346 patients with a histopathological diagnosis of retinoblastoma reported by the Oncology Service of the Instituto Nacional de Padiátría (INP). Weight and height were recorded in the patient charts prior to treatment. The Z-score was used to compare the study for mean somatometric value distribution with that of the data from the National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS]/Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] and reference for Mexican population. The association of the variables related to the clinical, social and genetic aspects of retinoblastoma with the low weight and short height was assessed by the ratio chi square test. Results: The average weight and the average height of the retinoblastoma population were significantly lower than those of the general population (p<0.001 and p=0.013, respectively). Low weight and Short stature in retinoblastoma patients was more frequent among those with advanced disease, rural environment and lower socioeconomic levels. Conclusions: The weight and height deficit present in a large proportion of children with retinoblastoma is due to factors such as an advanced stage of the condition at diagnosis, which, in turn, is symptomatic in the rural populations of the poorest areas of Mexico. Given that most social and environmental variables are highly interrelated, and the occurrence of possible genetic factors throughout Mexico cannot be discarded, the conclusions of the present study should be verified by analyzing the somatometric measurements of the parents and relatives of the patients, in order to establish comparison group comparison to and to assent these confounding variables.

Keywords : Retinoblastoma; Low weight; Low height.

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