ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Mid-parental height (MPH) is a useful tool in the prediction of final adult height in normal children as well as those on growth hormone (GH) therapy. Aim of the study to evaluate the growth response to GH therapy in GHD children in relation to their MPH.

Methods: This retrospective study included 22 short prepubertal children with GHD (peak GH<10 μg/l). They were followed in the Endocrine clinic between the period 2017-2018. Children were classified based on their HtSDS distance from MPHtSDS. Group1 had HtSDS - MPHTSDS > -1SDS (n = 13). Group 2 had HtSDS – MPHTSDS <-1SDS (n = 9). Their HtSDS, BMI SDS, weight gain (WG)Growth velocity(GV), and difference from MPHSDS were measured after a year of GH therapy (0.03 to 0.5 mg/kg/day) to keep their IGFSDS in the normal range (0 – 2 SD).

Result: Children in group had HtSDS = -1.72±0.63 far from their MPHSDS. Group 2 had HtSDS = -0.22±0.94 far from their MPHtSDS. No statistical difference was noticed in the HtSDS, BMISDS, IGF1SDS or bone age between the two groups at presentation. Group 2 had significantly shorter parents (MPHtSDS = -1.63 +/- 1.1) compared to parents in group 2 (MPHTSDS = -0.63 +/- 0.84) (P = 0.04). After a year of follow-up while on GH therapy, both groups had increased their HtSDS. Their difference from MPHSDS in group 1 improved by (0.64±0.97) (P < 0.03) and in group 2 improved by (0.40±0.28) (P = 0.01). The difference in the gain was not statistically significant among the two groups.

Conclusion: Irrespective of the distance between the HtSDS and MPHTSDS, GH deficient children had significant improvement of their HtSDS. In those with shorter parents (group 2), GH therapy improved their HtSDS to above their MPHTSDS (+0.24) in one year. Further controlled long-term studies are needed to investigate this topic.