Abstract
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may occur in patients with achondroplasia. Since the bulk of growth hormone (GH) is secreted in relation to slow wave sleep (SWS), disordered sleep may hinder GH release and subsequent growth. To examine these relationships, a 9 yr old prepubertal male achondroplastic dwarf with growth failure and OSA was studied with polysomnography and q 20 min sampling for sleep entrained GH before and 4 mos. after therapeutic tracheostomy (T).
Correction of sleep apnea normalized SWS and led to normalization of sleep entrained GH secretion and distinctly increased growth rate sustained 8 mos. after T. These results suggest that OSA in achondroplasia may further impair growth in these youngsters. Deficient sleep entrained secretion of GH is fully reversible by therapeutic tracheostomy. This is the first documentation of reversible GH deficiency caused by disordered sleep.
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Goldstein, S., Wu, R., Thorpy, M. et al. Correction of obstructive sleep apnea and sleep en-gained growth hormone release by tracheostomy in achondroplasia. Pediatr Res 18, 1215 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198411000-00088
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198411000-00088