Greater efficiency of human growth hormone therapy in children below five years of age with growth hormone deficiency. A 5-year follow-up study.

The effect of human growth hormone (hGH) therapy was studied in 39 prepubertal children with growth hormone deficiency (24 with isolated growth hormone deficiency; 15 with multiple pituitary hormone deficiencies) who had been treated for 2-5 years. They were divided into two groups according to age at the initiation of therapy: group A (n = 21), 0.7-4.8 years (mean chronological age, 2.9 +/- 1.4 years, and bone age, 1.2 +/- 0.9 years); group B (n = 18), 5.2-9.9 years (mean chronological age, 7.4 +/- 1.3 years, and bone age, 4.0 +/- 1.5 years). hGH was given at an initial dose of 2-4 IU 3 times/week, raised to 4-6 IU 3 times/week when growth velocity slowed. In the first year, the mean height SDS gain was 1.7 for group A and 0.8 for group B, and in the second year, 1.1 and 0.1, respectively. Subsequently this remained consistent. Bone age advancement was significantly slower in the younger group (3.8 vs. 5.8 years during 5 years) although this group had a greater catch-up response to therapy. It is concluded that hGH therapy is significantly more effective in achieving normalization of height when treatment is initiated at an early age.