CATCH-UP GROWTH IN EARLY TREATED PATIENTS WITH GROWTH-HORMONE DEFICIENCY

Catch-up growth of 26 children with growth hormone deficiency during f our years of growth hormone treatment, which was started young (< 3 ye ars), was compared with that of 16 children with coeliac disease on a gluten free diet. In children with growth hormone deficiency mean (SD) height SD score increased from -4.3 (1.8) to -1.9 (1.4) and in patien ts with coeliac disease from -1.8 (0.9) to -0.1 (0.8). Height SD score after four years correlated positively with injection frequency and h eight SD score at start of treatment in children with growth hormone d eficiency. All patients with coeliac disease reached a height above -2 SD scores after four years, while the height of 26% of children with growth hormone deficiency on daily injections and of 86% of children o n 2 or 4 injections/week was still below -2 SD scores. In patients wit h growth hormone deficiency on daily injections with an initial height SD score between -2 and -4 catch-up was similar to that of patients w ith coeliac disease with a comparable initial height deficit. Growth h ormone deficient children with an initial height SD score < -4 did not reach full catch-up growth within four years. In conclusion, catch-up growth in early treated children with growth hormone deficiency over four years is adequate provided that daily injections are given and th e initial height SD score is not less than -4.