Final height of short subjects of low birth weight with and without growthhormone treatment

Aim-To compare final height in two groups of low birth weight children exam ined for short stature: the first group untreated because of normal growth hormone (GH) secretion, the second treated with human growth hormone (hGH) because of abnormal secretion. Methods-A total of 49 subjects born at term of birth weight below the 10th centile were consecutively examined for idiopathic short stature. The first group of subjects (n = 20) with normal GH peaks after pharmacological test s (>8 mug/l) spontaneously reached final height. The second group (n = 29) with abnormal secretion were treated with hGH (20 U/m(2)/ week) for 36-84 m onths. At diagnosis the two groups were of similar height for chronological age and bone age, and had similar target height. Results-In both groups final height was significantly lower than target hei ght (-0.65 (SEM 0.20) in untreated cases, -0.61 (0.18) in treated cases). F ewer than one third of subjects had a final height above target height. Fin al height data of untreated and treated cases were not different. In the tr eated group the best results were obtained by those subjects who improved t heir height for bone age after three years of therapy. Conclusions-Our subjects with birth weight below the 10th centile remained as short adults with final height below target height. Treatment with hGH 2 0 U/m(2)/week in those diagnosed as deficient was not effective, with final results overlapping those of untreated subjects.