Comparison of the effectiveness of prepubertal growth hormone treatment on height and predicted adult height in children with short stature born small for gestational age vs. with a growth hormone deficiency

Toshiaki Tanaka; Shun Soneda; Naoko Sato; Kentaro Kishi; Masahiro Noda

doi:10.1515/jpem-2024-0226

Article

Comparison of the effectiveness of prepubertal growth hormone treatment on height and predicted adult height in children with short stature born small for gestational age vs. with a growth hormone deficiency

Toshiaki Tanaka , Shun Soneda , Naoko Sato , Kentaro Kishi and Masahiro Noda

Published/Copyright: October 31, 2024

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From the journal Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Volume 37 Issue 11

Abstract

Objectives

We compared the effects of growth hormone (GH) treatment on height and predicted adult height in children with short stature born small for gestational age (SGA-SS) vs. with a growth hormone deficiency (GHD).

Methods

This retrospective study analyzed the background and clinical characteristics of children who presented to Tanaka Growth Clinic for short stature and were diagnosed with either SGA-SS or GHD and underwent treatment with GH. We compared differences in height, height velocity, GH dose increases, insulin-like growth factor-1 levels, and bone-age/chronological-age ratio between the two groups.

Results

Out of these children, 33 SGA-SS and 54 GHD children started GH treatment before the age of 8 years, with a mean dose of 0.25 mg/kg/week and 0.20 mg/kg/week, respectively. At treatment initiation, the age and height standard deviation scores (SDS) of the SGA-SS group were significantly lower than those of the GHD group. The height velocity was significantly greater in the SGA-SS group for 3 years owing to higher GH doses and younger age. No notable differences in puberty onset height or predicted adult height were observed between the two groups for boys or girls. The increase in height SDS from the start of GH treatment until the onset of puberty was substantially greater in the SGA-SS group than in the GHD group for both sexes.

Conclusions

Adult height of patients with SGA-SS is expected to resemble that of patients with GHD but may not reach the −1.0 SD achieved with GH treatment of those patients in Western countries.

Keywords: growth hormone deficiency; growth hormone treatment; short children born small for gestational age; puberty; predicted adult height

Corresponding author: Toshiaki Tanaka, Tanaka Growth Clinic, 2-36-7 Yohga, Setagaya-ku 158-0097, Tokyo, Japan, E-mail: toshi_tnk@tanaka-growth-clinic.com

Research ethics: This retrospective study was approved by the Ethics Review Committee of the Japan Medical Association (R4-14), and this research complies with all relevant national regulations and institutional policies.
Informed consent: The requirement for written informed consent was waived owing to the retrospective nature of this study.
Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript.
Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
Conflict of interest: Toshiaki Tanaka is a consultant to JCR Pharma. The other authors state no conflict of interest.
Research funding: None declared.
Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request form the corresponding author.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2024-0226).

Received: 2024-05-13

Accepted: 2024-09-15

Published Online: 2024-10-31

Published in Print: 2024-11-26

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Keywords for this article

growth hormone deficiency; growth hormone treatment; short children born small for gestational age; puberty; predicted adult height