THE REPRODUCIBILITY OF URINARY GROWTH-HORMONE MEASUREMENT IN CHILDRENUNDERGOING ADENOTONSILLECTOMY - A PILOT-STUDY

The reproducibility of urinary growth hormone levels in normal childre n and in children undergoing adenotonsillar surgery was investigated. Thirty normal children and 32 children pre- and post-adenotonsillectom y had overnight urinary growth hormone levels measured on two consecut ive nights using the technique of immunoradiometric assay. There was n o significant difference when levels in each of these groups were comp ared. Therefore, the results were pooled (n = 94) and the correlation coefficient comparing levels obtained on the first and the second cons ecutive nights sample was calculated, r = 0.644 (P < 0.001). This work suggests that studies of urinary growth hormone levels in children gi ve reproducible results. Further investigation of this technique as a screening or diagnostic procedure in the clinical setting can now be m ore widely evaluated.