[Growth hormone therapy in childhood. Growth hormone therapy in small children without growth hormone deficiency].

The availability of unlimited amounts of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) has now made it possible to investigate its growth-promoting effect in children in whom growth hormone production is not deficient. In girls suffering from the Ullrich Turner syndrome, treatment with rhGH increases final height by some 6 to 8 cm. An increase in growth rate has also been observed in children with renal insufficiency, and in children with intrauterine growth retardation. Favourable results have also been reported in children receiving glucocorticoids for such chronic conditions as rheumatoid arthritis, and in youngsters with hypochondroplasia. In a further group of children with various disorders an improvement in the growth rate has been observed, although nothing can yet be said about the outcome in terms of final height. To achieve an increase in growth rate, pharmacological doses of growth hormone higher than those used in children with growth hormone deficiency are necessary. For this reason, the risk of unwanted side effects might be higher than in the latter.