Changes in the Predicted Adult Height after Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist Treatment in Girls with Idiopathic True Precocious Puberty

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: We evaluated the effects of the timing of treatment initiation with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) on the change in predicted adult height (PAH) in girls with idiopathic true precocious puberty (TPP). METHODS: Data for this retrospective study were collected on 104 girls with TPP who were treated with GnRHa for 36 months, between January 2002 and March 2012. RESULTS: The PAH SDS differed before and after treatment in all patients (-1.91 +/- 1.47 vs. -1.37 +/- 1.17 after 1 year of treatment, -1.96 +/- 1.58 vs. -0.48 +/- 1.11 after 3 years of treatment) as well as in Group 1 (-2.15 +/- 1.54 vs. -1.51 +/- 1.20 after 1 year of treatment, -2.09 +/- 1.59 vs. -0.55 +/- 1.19 after 3 years of treatment) and Group 2 (-1.57 +/- 1.34 vs. -1.17 +/- 1.12 after 1 year of treatment, -1.50 +/- 1.55 vs. -0.21 +/- 0.74 after 3 years of treatment). This result could be due to improvement in bone age advancement during the treatment. The difference between mid-parental height SDS and PAH SDS was decreased after GnRHa treatment. However, the means of PAH SDS did not surpass the mid-parental height SDS. CONCLUSION: GnRHa treatment can preserve growth potential by slowing bone age progression, resulting in short adult height, but it cannot alter the genetic growth potential.