Children who are short because they have short limbs will have plots that lie towards the upper left side of a chart of sitting height versus stature, and those with short backs, the opposite (Fig. 14.12). Shortness may be caused by skeletal dysplasia: for example hypochondroplasia in which there is proportionate shortening in the back and limbs, which is only identifiable by clinical inspection. Where a skeletal dysplasia is suspected, a full skeletal radiographic survey is needed and an experienced radiologist consulted. Since few radiologists are practised in this field, only a very few know how to interpret the very subtle radiographic changes; it is a field for the superspecialist.
