Isolated Growth Hormone Deficiency and Idiopathic Short Stature: Comparative Efficiency after Growth Hormone Treatment up to Adult Height.

INTRODUCTION

Treatment with growth hormone (GH) is not approved for idiopathic short stature (ISS) in Europe.

OBJECTIVES

To compare the growth of children treated with isolated GH deficiency (IGHD) vs. ISS-treated and untreated children.

METHODS

A retrospective descriptive study of patients treated in the last 14 years for IGHD (Group A), in comparison with ISS-treated (Group B) and untreated (Group C) subjects.

RESULTS

Group A had 67 males, who showed a height gain of 1.24 SD. Group B had 30 boys, who showed a height gain of 1.47 SD. Group C had 42 boys, who showed an improvement of 0.37 SD. The final heights were -1.52 SD, -1.31 SD, and -2.03 SD, respectively. Group A and C did not reach their target heights (with differences of 0.27 SD and 0.59 SD, respectively). Group B surpassed their target height by 0.29 SD.

CONCLUSIONS

The final heights of the IGHD and treated ISS are similar. Treated groups were taller than untreated groups.