1997 Volume 6 Issue Supple9 Pages 39-44
To improve the final height of short children who enter puberty at short stature, twenty-one boys who entered puberty shorter than 130 cm and twelve girls who entered puberty shorter than 125 cm were treated with a combination of GH and LHRH analog. Combined GST and GH treatment was started in boys and girls at a mean age of 11.78 (±0.82) years and 10.54 (±1.08) years, mean height of 130.0 (±4.4) cm and 122.6 (±3.2) cm, and mean height SD of -2.34 (±0.61) SD and -2.78 (±0.99) SD respectively. During the combination treatment, bone age decelerated after a bone age of 11.5 years in boys and 10 years in girls, and height velocity did not decelerate but remained at from 3 cm/year to 5 cm/year for a longer period. As a consequence of the treatment, the height SD score for bone age increased significantly. Seven boys and six girls discontinued LHRH analog treatment when the mean age was 17.11 (±1.15) years after a mean treatment period of 4.96 (±1.37) years for boys and when the mean age was 13.89 (±1.79) years after a mean treatment period of 3.21 (±1.52) years for girls. The mean height was 155.1 (±3.1) cm for boys and 143.3 (±3.0) cm for girls and their predicted adult height was 169.8 (±2.5) cm for boys and 155.8 (±3.1) cm for girls at the cessation of the combination treatment. All except one girl in our study will have achieved greater than the standard height gain during puberty. Although combined GH and LHRH analog treatment can improve the final height of short children by increasing pubertal height gain, the combination treatment seems more effective in boys than in girls.
