Effect of growth hormone therapy in children with achondroplasia: growth pattern, hypothalamic-pituitary function, and genotype.

OBJECTIVE

Although there are a few reports on GH therapy in achondroplasia, these were based on a small sample and/or short-term observation. To clarify the effectiveness of GH treatment on short stature in achondroplasia and hypochondroplasia, a long-term treatment study in a larger number of patients was performed.

METHOD

Forty-two children (16 males and 26 females, age 3-14 years) with achondroplasia were examined in this study. Initially, we evaluated hypothalamic-pituitary function and point mutation analysis as previously reported. After the evaluation, the children were treated with GH for more than 2 years; then post-treatment growth velocity and body proportion parameters were determined.

RESULTS

The 35 typical variants of our achondroplasia patients showed previously reported point mutation in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 gene. The annual height gain during GH therapy was significantly greater than that before therapy (3.9 +/- 1.0 cm/year before treatment vs 6.5 +/- 1.8 cm/year for the first year and 4.6 +/- 1.6 cm/year for the second year of treatment). The body disproportion had not been aggravated during the treatment period.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that GH might be beneficial in the treatment of short stature in children with achondroplasia in the first 2 years of treatment.