[Recent progress in diagnosis and treatment of patients with GH deficiency and GH overproduction]

The diagnostic criteria of GH deficiency and acromegaly have been revised in 1990 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Japan. According to this criteria, not only the classical type of severe GH deficiency but also partial GH deficiency can be diagnosed and treated. With development of technology, anatomical abnormalities could be seen by MRI and genetic abnormality analysed. For the treatment of patients with GH deficiency, the pen-system has becomes available, which makes the daily injection of GH painless and easy. For the treatment of GH producing pituitary tumor (acromegaly), a long acting analog of somatostatin is now available to reduce the size of the tumor.