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Published on: January 7, 2016

Treatment of growth hormone deficiency in very young children

Jean-Claude Carel1, Frédéric Huet, Jean-Louis Chaussain

  • 1Groupe hospitalier Cochin-Saint Vincent de Paul and Faculté Cochin, Université Paris V, Paris, France. carel@cochin.inserm.fr

Hormone Research
|September 5, 2003
PubMed

Insights

Growth hormone (GH) deficiency in children causes rapid height loss. GH therapy promotes catch-up growth, with injection frequency being key, though long-term outcomes require further study.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Hormone Replacement Therapy
  • Rare Childhood Diseases

Background:

  • Growth hormone (GH) deficiency presents diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in young children.
  • Early-onset hypopituitarism leads to significant and rapid height deceleration (loss of standard deviation scores).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review current information on GH and pituitary hormone substitution in pediatric patients with GH deficiency.
  • To assess the efficacy and outcomes of growth hormone therapy in children with hypopituitarism.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on growth hormone and pituitary hormone substitution in pediatric hypopituitarism.
  • Analysis of auxological data, including height standard deviation scores and treatment parameters.

Main Results:

  • Growth hormone therapy effectively induces rapid catch-up growth in children with hypopituitarism.
  • The frequency of GH injections appears more critical for growth response than the dosage amount.
  • Long-term auxological outcomes are favorable compared to historical data, though available for a limited patient cohort.

Conclusions:

  • Significant progress has been made in treating early-onset severe hypopituitarism with GH therapy.
  • Further research is needed to fully normalize the condition, focusing on psychological and neurodevelopmental outcomes.
  • Comprehensive evaluation of long-term endocrine replacement therapies is essential for assessing final results.

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