Although menarche is a late event in the puberal process, most parents do not realize until this moment that their daughters are no longer children. At that time, they usually turn to the pediatrician for enlightenment and serenity. They frequently ask about the girl's growth potential and for an estimate of her final height. There are only a few studies in the scientific literature on postmenarcheal growth, perhaps due to the special characteristics of adolescence, which makes interpretation of the results difficult. The purpose of this review is to provide pediatricians with a means of making more accurate prognosis than populational means on growth after menarche for the adolescent girl, taking into account she has already had menarche. There is no correlation between age at the peak of height velocity and final height. At menarche the adolescent has already reached 95.5% of her final height. Progressively smaller increments in stature continue for 3 to 4.8 years. The early matures (menarche earlier than the mean age of 12.6 years) probably will grow more than the mean of 6 or 7cm, and for a longer period than the ones who are later matures until they reach their final height.
Puberty; Adolescent growth spurt; Menarche; Postmenarcheal growth; Final stature
