Effect of recombinant human growth hormone in a postpediatric hemodialysis patient with delayed growth.

We present an 18-year-old patient who has been on renal replacement therapy since the age of 11. He had growth retardation and delayed puberty, with a bone age of 13.6 years. Treatment with human recombinant growth hormone (rhGH) resulted in a clearcut increase in height and lean body mass. We emphasize that rhGH treatment could be tried even at a postpediatric age, provided bone radiology suggests that further growth is possible.