ESPE Abstracts

Background: Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is defined as a total or partial deficiency in the secretion of growth hormone (GH) by the somatotropic cells of the anterior pituitary. The exact prevalence of this condition is unknown in Algeria. In Europe and USA, it is estimated between 1/4000 and 1/10000. This variation is explained by clinical polymorphism, the limits of pharmacological stimulation tests for GH stimulation, problems in interpreting the diagnosis threshold value, the poor reproducibility of the tests, and the absence of clinical criteria for certainty.

Aims of study: The objective of our study is to to determine the clinical features and evolution of childhood GHD in our centre.

Methods: It is a retrospective, descriptive study, spanning the period 2010 to 2020; were eligible for the study all GHD patients, several parameters were evaluated, age, sex, size, diagnostic elements, etiology, dose of treatment. We compared the height gain according to the etiology and the dose, pre-pubertal and pubertal, and the severity of the height delay.and we analyzed the results of the reassessment.

Results: We collected 123 patients. The mean age was 7 ± 1 year, with a child in the neonatal period, the sex ratio is 1.1. The average height was -3.03 SDS. The diagnosis of GHD was made at a mean age of 8 ± 0.5 years, diagnosis delay was 3 ± 0.6 years. 47% had pathological MRI. GHD was associated with other pituitary deficits at diagnosis in 10%. The mean dose of GH was 0.030 mg/Kg/d, it was greater in partial GHD 0.035 mg/Kg/d vs 0.025 mg/Kg/d in GHD with malformation or associated with other deficits. The mean height gain was 8.9 ± 2.6 cm in the 1st year (> 1 SDS) for patients with malformative or multiple deficit GHD (8.7 ± 2.2 cm vs 5.2 ± 0.8 cm, P <0.01), and patients with started treatment before the age of 5. An indication for reassessment was asked in 19 patients (23.4%), IGF1 was > - 2 SDS in 58% for isolated GHD, versus 21% in GHD with malformation or associated with other deficits (P <0.01)

Conclusion: GH deficiency is a rare pathology, the diagnosis is made on a set of arguments. Our work joins the data in the literature on the criteria of good response to treatment, which are precocity and association with other deficits.