Stimulation of growth by recombinant human growth hormone in children undergoing peritoneal or hemodialysis treatment. German Study Group for Growth Hormone Treatment in Chronic Renal Failure.

Fourteen patients on hemodialysis (HD) and 17 patients on continuous peritoneal dialysis (CPD) were treated with 28-30 IU/m2/week of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) for at least 12 months. The HD and CPD patient groups were comparable with regard to age, bone age, height standard deviation scores (SDS), and height velocity at start of treatment. During the first year of rhGH treatment, height velocity increased from 2.9 +/- 1.9 to 5.5 +/- 1.7 cm/year in the HD group and from 3.0 +/- 2.2 to 7.2 +/- 3.2 cm/year in the CPD group. The increase in growth rate was significant in both groups (p < 0.001), and tended to be significantly greater in the CPD than in the HD group (p = 0.09). The marked acceleration of growth under rhGH treatment resulted in an increase in relative height by 0.37 +/- 0.38 SDS in the HD group and by 0.47 +/- 0.69 SDS in the CPD group during the first treatment year. Seven HD and 7 CPD patients completed a second year of rhGH treatment. In these patients, height velocity dropped to 3.6 +/- 2.7 cm/year (HD) and 3.6 +/- 2.3 cm/year (CPD), respectively during the second treatment year. We conclude that rhGH treatment accelerates growth in children both on HD and CPD. The treatment response tends to be greater in CPD compared to HD patients. The efficacy of treatment decreases considerably during the second treatment year.