Growth hormone treatment during suppression of early puberty in adopted girls

Girls adopted from developing countries often have early or precocious pube rty, requiring treatment with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogu es. During such treatment decreased growth Velocity is frequent. The aim of this investigation was to study whether the addition of growth hormone (CH ) to CnRH analogue treatment improves height velocity and final height in g irls with early or precocious puberty. Forty-six girls with early or precoc ious puberty adopted from developing countries were randomized For treatmen t with GnRH analogue or a combination of GH and CnRH analogue. After 2 y of treatment the mean growth in the GH/GnRH analogue group was significantly higher, 14.6 cm, compared to 10.9 cm in the control group. The increase in bone age did not differ, while the difference in predicted adult height inc reased by 2.7 cm in favour of the combination group. Although data on final height are not yet available, combined GH/GnRh analogue treatment for 2 y resulted in a higher growth velocity and predicted final height compared to GnRH analogue treatment alone.