Three years of growth hormone therapy in children with growth hormone deficiency.

ABSTRACT

The objects is to study the long-term therapeutic effect of recombinant DNA hGH by administration of biosynthetic hGH for 2 ½ - 3 years to 12 children with growth hormone (GH) deficiency, consisted of 7 males, 5 females; whose ages ranged from 3 years 4 months to 17 years old. All patients fulfilled the criteria of GH deficiency namely; growth rate less than 7 ng/ml after clonidine and dopa-propranolol stimulation test. Ten patients had idiopathic GH deficiency. Two had hypopituitarism as a result of brain tumors and cranial surgery. The growth rate was observed over a pretreatment period of 12 months. The patients received 0.1 µ/kg of recombinant DNA hGH subcutaneously 6 days per week. In males with GH-deficiency, pre-treatment mean height was 2.6 cm per year. The mean height increment at 6th, 12th, 24th, 30th, and 36th month of treatment were 6, 11.2, 14.1, 17.6, 20.6 and 23.4 cm respectively. The females had mean height increment during pre-treatment period of 2.2 cm per year. The mean height increment on 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th, and 30th month of treatment were 4.7, 7.8, 10.3, 14.2 and 14.4 cm respectively. All patients have a significant satisfactory response to recombinant DNA hGH in term of height increment. There was no report of either side effect or complication. Every patient has had improved sense of physical, mental and psycho-social well-being.