Abstract
Twenty-three prepubertal children, 4.4–10.7 years of age and more than 2.5 SD below the mean height for age have been treated with HGH, 4–6 mg weekly, for one year. All had plasma GH levels higher than 7 ng/ml during insulin or arginine test. Fourteen had been small for gestational age; five of them had Mulibrey nanism, one Turner's syndrome, and two autosomal chromosome anomalies. Ten had familial short stature. In adition, a girl with cartilage hair hypoplasia has received 2 mg HGH daily for one year. The growth velocity was measured for one year prior to treatment. An acceleration by 2–4 cm/year was achieved in eight of the children; only one of these was of the familial short group. Three accelerated by 1–2 cm/year and 11 by less than 1 cm/year. Nine of the children have been followed for a whole year after the treatment. The post-treatment growth velocity was less than the pre-treatment velocity by more than 1 cm in five. The velocity of the girl with cartilage hair hypoplasia accelerated by 3.1 cm/year during the treatment. Our findings confirm that some children with prenatal growth failure may gain from HGH treatment.
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Lenko, H., Perheentupa, J. EFFECT OF HGH TREATMENT ON GROWTH OF NON-GH-DEFICIENT SHORT CHILDREN. Pediatr Res 9, 671 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197508000-00042
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197508000-00042