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Treatment of children with congenital heart disease and growth retardation with recombinant human growth hormone
Author(s) -
Sasaki H,
Baba K,
Nishida Y,
Waki K,
Konishi N,
Mawatari H,
Usami I,
Kikuchi K,
Tanaka M
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1996.tb14005.x
Subject(s) - medicine , heart disease , growth retardation , human growth hormone , pediatrics , bone age , recombinant dna , el niño , growth hormone deficiency , growth hormone , endocrinology , hormone , pregnancy , biochemistry , chemistry , genetics , gene , biology
Seven prepubertal short children with congenital heart disease were treated with recombinant human growth hormone (GH). Although complete surgical correction was performed for their heart disease at least 2 years before the start of GH therapy, improvement in growth was less than expected in these children. They received 0.5 IU kg −1 week −1 of GH daily for 2 years or more. The growth rate increased from a mean of 4.3 cm year −1 before treatment to a mean of 7.8 cm year −1 in the first year and to a mean of 6.3 cm year −1 in the second year of treatment. Their mean standardized height improved from −3.41 ± 0.78 to −2.54 ± 0.62 after 2 years. The mean height age difference minus the bone age difference became positive in these children. We conclude that recombinant GH increases the growth rate in children with congenital heart disease and prepubertal growth retardation.