SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM (FINAL HEIGHT) DATA IN CHILDREN WITH NORMAL VARIANT SHORT STATURE TREATED WITH GROWTH-HORMONE

Seventeen children with normal variant short stature and a predicted h eight below -2 SDS were treated with growth hormone (GH) six times a w eek for a period of 5 years. Patients were randomly selected to receiv e three different doses of GH, group 1 (n=6) 3 IU/m(2) per day, group 2 (n=6) 4.5 IU/m(2) per day and group 3 (n=5) 3 IU/m(2) per day in the Ist year and 4.5 IU/m(2) per day thereafter. There was a significant increase in height after 1 and 2 years for all patients and for all su bgroups. However, this increase was not dependent on GH dose. The decr ease in height velocity during the 2nd year was not prevented by the i ncrease of GH dose in group 3. The change of predicted height after 2 years was +0.75 SDS (according to Tanner Whitehouse). Fourteen childre n have been treated for 4 years and 8 children for 5 years without a f urther change in height prediction. Nine patients have reached final h eight which was 2.4 am (+0.41 SDS) above pretreatment height predictio n. Final height was nearly identical to predicted height after 1 year of therapy. Conclusion An increment in height prediction was observed during the first 2 years of GH treatment and maintained thereafter. Ho wever, there was only a minor increase in final height over predicted height which does not justify the general use of GH in children with n ormal variant short stature.