Comprehensive therapy
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Patients with short stature may go unrecognized if routine, accurate growth measurements are not performed by primary care physicians: This cannot be overemphasized. An accurate assessment of growth requires reliable growth measurements and proper plotting of growth data on correct growth charts. This should be done by the primary care physician yearly and at every office visit. ⋯ In some children other specialized testing is required, such as chromosomal analysis or GH testing. The therapy, if any, of short stature will of course depend on the underlying etiology. Often reassurance is all that is necessary.
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Photosensitivity induced by exogenous agents accounts for an increasing portion of the total undesirable effects caused by environmental chemicals. The exponential increase in the number of new drugs each year is responsible for a significant rise in the incidence of and disability caused by these reactions. An extensive drug history must be taken whenever a patient presents with a reaction limited to or accentuated in light-exposed areas. These reactions may present with a wide morphologic spectrum ranging from sunburn-like responses to eczematous, lichenoid, and even bullous lesions resembling porphyria cutanea tarda.
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A variety of benign and malignant bone tumors can affect the metabolically active pediatric skeleton. A thorough investigation with pertinent imaging studies can establish an appropriate differential diagnosis and frequently allows distinction between benign and malignant tumors. By using a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of malignant tumors, a number of advances have been made. Further research is needed to gain more understanding and improve on the remarkable advances of the past 20 years.