The effect of recombinant growth hormone treatment in children with idiopathic short stature and low insulin-like growth factor-1 levels

Objective: idiopathic short stature (iss) constitutes a heterogeneous group of short stature which is not associated with an endocrine or other identifiable cause. some iss patients may have varying degrees of insulin-like growth factor-1 (igf-1) deficiency. recombinant growth hormone (rgh) treatment has been used by some authors with variable results. reports on long-term rgh treatment are limited. methods: in this study,21 slowly growing,non-gh-deficient iss children who received rgh treatment for 3.62±0.92 years were evaluated at the end of a 5.42±1.67-year follow-up period. the study group included patients with low igf-1 levels who also responded well to an igf generation test. the patients were divided into two groups as good responders [height increment >1 standard deviation (sd)] and poor responders (height increment <1 sd) at the end of the follow-up period. results: the height of the patients improved from -3.16±0.46 sd score (sds) to -1.9±0.66 sds. at the end of the follow-up period,mean height sds was -1.72. eleven of the patients showed a good response to treatment. clinical parameters were essentially similar in the good responders and the poor responders groups. a female preponderance was noted in the good responders group. conclusion: rgh treatment can safely be used in iss children. long-term gh treatment will ameliorate the height deficit and almost 40% of patients may reach their target height. © journal of clinical research in pediatric endocrinology,published by galenos publishing.