What is bone dysplasia?

Also known as: bone dysplasia, skeletal dysplasia, achondroplasia.

Dwarfism is a type of short stature. There are hundreds of different medical conditions (for example, short parents, lack of hormones, diseases that affect the kidneys or liver and others) that can affect ultimate size and/or the growth of an infant.

In general dwarfism can be divided into those conditions which cause some parts of the body to be small while other parts are normal (Disproportionate dwarfism) or where all parts of the body are small (Proportionate dwarfism).

The bone/cartilage abnormalities that lead to changes in the size and shape of the legs, arms, skull or trunk, are known as bone dysplasias. These conditions frequently cause shorter stature, or dwarfism. Achondroplasia is the most common type of bone dysplasia, though there are many many others.

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Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM