INCREASES IN HEMOGLOBIN CONCENTRATION AND IRON NEEDS IN RESPONSE TO GROWTH-HORMONE TREATMENT

We studied 36 children with short stature during the initial 6 months of recombinant human growth hormone treatment and found an elevation i n the mean concentration of hemoglobin (p <0.001). The elevation was h ighest in the eight patients with bone dysplasia (p <0.001). The mean concentration of serum ferritin decreased (p <0.01) and that of serum transferrin increased (p <0.001). The prevalence of iron deficiency in creased from 6 patients (17%) with initial deficiency to 20 (56%) pati ents after therapy, indicating that iron supplementation should be con sidered in children treated with recombinant human growth hormone.