[Therapy for short stature in girls with Turner syndrome]

This study was aimed to examine the growth-promoting effects of recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) and low dose of thyroid hormone on short stature in girls with Turner syndrome. 8 girls with Turner syndrome, at the chronological age of 8.5-14.5 years (12.3 +/- 2.1 years) and bone age of 8.3-12.7 years (9.8 +/- 1.7 years) were observed. The maximum serum GH levels in 3 patients out of 5 with provocative testing available were > or = 10 ng/ml (10.0, 10.0 and 15.52 ng/ml, respectively), and in the other 2 of the 5 patients were < 10 ng/ml (9.3 and 9.5 ng/ml). Thyroid function including T3, T4 and TSH were measured in 5 patients. The TSH in one patient was slightly higher; the T3, T4 and TSH in other patients were normal. All patients were treated with r-hGH 1.0 IU/(kg.wk) and thyroideum 15 mg/d for 6-36 months. The results showed that the growth rate after treatment was remarkably higher than that before treatment (2.2 +/- 1.1 cm/yr). The growth rates in the first 6 month, the first year, the second year and the third year were 7.9 +/- 1.6 cm/yr, 7.5 +/- 1.2 cm/yr, 6.9 +/- 0.2 cm/yr and 5.0 +/- 0.2 cm/yr, respectively. Height standard deviation score (HSDS) increased 1.3 +/- 1.1 SD, compared with that pretreatment. The annual bone age growth rate after treatment was 0.6 +/- 0.2 yr/yr (0.43-0.8 yr/yr). These data indicated that r-hGH and low dose of thyroid hormone had remarkable effects of growth-promoting in the girls with Turner syndrome.