Therapy of Terner’s syndrome with growth hormone: Analysis of therapy effect on the final height

Abstract

An all-American collaborative study of the effectiveness of treatment with growth hormone (GH) for Turner syndrome was launched in 1983. 70 girls with Turner syndrome were divided into groups: without treatment, treatment with only GH, treatment with oxandrolone only, combined therapy with GH and oxandrolone. The duration of treatment was 12-24 months. After completion of this stage, patients who received treatment only with GH remained on the previous therapy, while all other patients were transferred to the treatment of GH in combination with oxandrolone. Currently, there are data on 62 girls who have been on therapy for at least 3-6 years. When compared with the growth rate usually observed in untreated patients with Turner syndrome, it turned out that during the treatment of both GH and the combination of GH and oxandrolone, there was an increase in the growth rate, which was maximally expressed during the first 2 years of the study and lasted for 6 years. Although the treatment of GH is currently not yet completed in half of the patients, in 14 (82%) of 17 girls receiving only GH and in 42 (93%) of 45 patients receiving combined therapy, the growth already exceeded their predicted adult rates age. In 30 patients who completed treatment, the average growth is currently equal to 151.9 cm, while their predicted final growth was initially 143.8 cm. These results suggest that GR therapy can lead to short-term (3-6 years ) accelerating growth, as well as improving the final growth indicators.