Body mass index (BMI) in Turner Syndrome before and during growth hormone (GH) therapy

To study whether body mass index (BMI) is different in girls with Turner syndrome (TS) compared to normal girls, and whether BMI in TS is affected by growth hormone (GH) treatment.

A retrospective cross-sectional study.

2468 girls with TS enrolled in the National Cooperative Group Study (NCGS), a collaborative surveillance study for assessing GH-treated children.

BMI and BMI standard deviation score (BMI SDS) at baseline and during GH treatment were computed from height and weight data.

BMI in TS patients increases with age as expected. However, BMI SDS increased starting at about age 9 y. A similar pattern of increase in BMI SDS was observed after each year of GH treatment for up to 4 y, but GH treatment did not change the magnitude of increase. BMI and BMI SDS curves before and during GH treatment were essentially superimposable.

These findings suggest that mechanisms specific for TS are responsible for the age-related increase in BMI SDS. This increase was unaffected by GH treatment.