Impaired growth in hyperkinetic children receiving pemoline.

Decreased longitudinal growth was observed in 24 hyperkinetic children receiving pemoline therapy. Mean height velocity was 3.67 +/- 0.25 cm/year during therapy but 5.35 +/- 0.42 cm/year after treatment had been discontinued (P less than 0.01). There appeared to be an inverse relationship between growth velocity and drug dosage. All patients receiving less than the median dose of 3.72 mg/kg grew 4 cm/year or more, while seven of 12 patients receiving more than this dose grew at a slower rate. Body weight, basal and stimulated growth hormone values, and plasma somatomedin concentrations were not significantly altered by pemoline treatment, suggesting that this drug may have a direct effect on cartilage metabolism.