[Hypoglycemia caused by growth hormone deficiency. Two cases in children with cerebral paresis].

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) associated with and secondary to asphyxiating perinatal events is a well-established disorder of childhood. However, hypoglycaemic fits due to GHD in children with cerebral palsy simulating symptomatic epilepsy do not seem well-recognized in literature. Within one year we have encountered two boys with cerebral palsy, one aged three and the other six years, who exhibited growth retardation and hypoglycaemic episodes. Both had suffered perinatal asphyxiation. Both had seizures which did not respond properly to antiepileptic drugs. Provocative tests (sleep and clonidine) disclosed GHD. Following growth hormone therapy, fits and hypoglycaemic episodes disappeared, and the children resumed normal growth.