[Growth hormone therapy in adults. Attempt to assess a decade of use]

Patients with adult growth hormone deficiency apparently can develop a clinical picture with pronounced obesity, dyslipidemia, decreased bone density, and increased fracture rate as well as psychosocial limitations irrespective of the loss and replacement of further hypophyseal axes. The extent of these changes is strongly dependent on interindividual variations. Retrospective analyses have indicated a possibility of elevated morbidity and mortality among this patient cohort which can be due to the proatherogenic alterations (central obesity, dyslipidemia). Treatment with recombinant growth hormone in controlled trials resulted in evident improvement in quality of life, better body composition and lipid profile as well as an increase in bone density. Whether these improvements will also pay off in terms of reduction of endpoints (decline in fracture rates, decrease of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality) has not yet been confirmed by controlled studies. When administered at low doses, titrated according to the IGF-1 level, growth hormone replacement appears to be a safe and well-tolerated therapeutic regimen.