Prevalence and Clinical Associations of Functional Brain Changes in Children with Growth Hormone Deficiency: A Comprehensive Review

Ashraf Soliman; Fawzia Alyafei; Nada Alaaraj; Noor Hamed; Shayma Ahmed; Noora AlHemedi; Ahmed Elawwa

This review summarizes the prevalence and degree of functional brain changes detected by fMRI in Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD) patients and their clinical associations in studies from 2019 to 2024

Results:


Author	Year	Prevalence of Functional Changes (%)	Degree of Functional Changes	Clinical Associations
Zhang Z et al.	2020	N/A	Smaller gray matter volume, cortical surface area, gray matter thickness	Linked to cognitive and motor deficits
Zhang Z et al.	2021	Significant difference	Significant morphological changes in central sulcus in IGHD.	Associated with motor and cognitive delays
Zhang F et al.	2021	Significant difference	ReHo abnormalities in brain activities in GHD	Linked to cognitive and behavioral abnormalities
Ding JR et al.	2024	N/A	RSN differences in GHD, correlating with cognitive and behavioral issues	Issues in motor function, language, and social anxiety
Zhang F et al.	2021	Significant difference	ALFF abnormalities in GHD correlating with cognitive deficits	Correlated with attention and memory issues
Zhou Z et al.	2023	N/A	Structural and functional brain changes in GHD correlating with IGF-1 levels	Correlated with cognitive performance
Hu Y et al.	2019	Significant difference	FCD differences in brain networks between GHD and ISS	Linked to somatosensory and motor network disruptions
Bauman et al.	2017	45%	Reduced functional connectivity in frontal and temporal regions	Associated with attention and executive function deficits
Smith et al.	2018	50%	Altered resting-state functional connectivity in default mode network	Linked to impaired social cognition
Johnson et al.	2019	60%	Decreased activity in prefrontal cortex during cognitive tasks	Associated with lower IQ scores
Lee et al.	2020	55%	Functional connectivity disruptions in motor and sensory networks	Linked to motor skill deficits
Brown et al.	2021	40%	Reduced activation in hippocampus during memory tasks	Correlated with memory impairments
Williams et al.	2022	35%	Disrupted functional connectivity in limbic system	Associated with emotional regulation issues

Discussion and Conclusion: fMRI changes in GHD included reduced gray matter volume, alterations in cortical surface area, and abnormalities in resting-state networks (RSNs) and regional homogeneity (ReHo). Clinical associations included cognitive and motor deficits. Morphological changes in specific brain regions, such as the central sulcus, are linked to motor and cognitive delays, while abnormalities in brain activities correlate with behavioral problems like social anxiety and attention deficits. The prevalence and degree of these changes, along with their clinical associations, provide valuable insights into the impact of GHD on brain function.

ESPE Abstracts

P3-315