EFFICACY OF INTERMITTENT THERAPY IN GROWTH HORMONE-DEFICIENT CHILDREN

Eighty-six growth hormone-deficient children treated with extractive g rowth hormone were transferred to recombinant growth hormone (rGH): 57 children were transferred directly to rGH, but 29 experienced a 9.7 /- 1-month pause in growth hormone administration. The retrospective a nalysis of growth from 1 year before to 1 year after initiation of rGH showed that the interruption of growth hormone administration did not modify the final height gain. During the 2 years, children with conti nuous therapy gained 12.2 +/- 0.5 cm with a cumulative growth hormone dose of 43 +/- 3 U/kg, while those who paused gained 12.1 +/- 0.3 cm w ith a cumulative growth hormone dose of only 24 +/- 2 U/kg (p < 0.0005 ). As expected, during the year preceding the onset of rGH, the childr en who paused gained less height than those treated continuously, but grew more rapidly during the first year of rGH administration. This wa s due to an important re-acceleration of growth rate at re-initiation of therapy after the pause. Our observation suggests that regimens of discontinuous rGH administration could be as efficient as continuous t reatment. If confirmed in prospective randomized trials, this could ha ve important consequences for improving the clinical efficiency of a g iven dose of rGH, as well as for the patient's comfort, secondary effe cts and cost of therapy.