Early GH Treatment Is Effective and Well Tolerated in Children With Turner Syndrome: NordiNet® IOS and Answer Program

Despite having normal growth hormone (GH) secretion, individuals with Turner syndrome (TS) have short stature. Treatment with recombinant human GH is recommended for TS girls with short stature.

This work aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Norditropin (somatropin, Novo Nordisk) with up to 10 years of follow-up in children with TS.

Secondary analysis was conducted of Norditropin data from 2 non-interventional studies: NordiNet® IOS (NCT00960128) and the ANSWER program (NCT01009905).

A total of 2377 girls with TS were included in the safety analysis set (SAS), with 1513 in the treatment-naive effectiveness analysis set (EAS). At the start of treatment, 1273 (84%) participants were prepubertal (EAS); mean (SD) age was 8.8 (3.9) years. Mean (SD) dose received at the start of GH treatment was 0.045 (0.011) mg/kg/day (EAS). Mean (SD) baseline insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-I) SD score (SDS) was -0.86 (1.52), and mean (SD) duration of GH treatment (SAS) was 3.8 (2.8) years.Height SDS (HSDS) increased throughout follow-up, with near-adult HSDS reached by 264 (17%) participants (mean [SD] -1.99 [0.94]; change from baseline +0.90 [0.85]). During the study, 695 (46%) participants (EAS) entered puberty at a mean (SD) age of 12.7 (1.9) years (whether puberty was spontaneous or induced was unknown). Within the SAS, mean IGF-I SDS (SD) at year 10 was 0.91 (1.69); change from baseline +1.48 (1.70). Serious adverse reactions were reported in 10 participants (epiphysiolysis [n = 3]).

GH-treated participants with TS responded well, without new safety concerns. Our real-world data are in agreement with previous studies.