Adult height in sixty girls with Turner syndrome treated with growth hormone matched with an untreated group

The main clinical feature of Turner syndrome (TS) is growth failure, with a mean spontaneous adult height ranging between 136 and 147 cm, according to the specific curves of various populations. Though a classical deficiency of GH has not been generally demonstrated, GH has been administered since 1980 in trials, using replacement doses just initially, with a subsequent trend to increase it. We report the outcome of GH therapy given at the fixed dose of 0.33 mg/kg/week in 60 TS girls observed until adult height; 59 untreated TS girls, matched for auxological, karyotypical characteristics and time of observation, born within the same decade served as controls to evaluate GH efficacy. The calculation of the gain in cm over PAH was performed on specific Italian Turner curves, as well as height evaluation as SD score and growth velocity. The same calculations were made using Lyon references and Tanner standards. The mean CA at the beginning of GH treatment was 10.9±2.76 yr (range 4.5–15.9). Mean adult height of treated group was 151±6.1 cm with a gain over the PAH calculated at start of therapy (142.9±5.3 cm) of 8.2±3.9 cm. Ns change was observed between the PAH at first observation (143.6±7.0 cm) and adult height (144.3±5.6 cm) in the control group. Treatment was well tolerated, no relevant side effects were observed, glucose metabolism resulted no more affected than in untreated subjects, IGF-I levels remained within 2 SD. Our results in 60 TS girls, though the dose remained unchanged throughout the treatment, show a good response, characterized by a striking variability in each patient (mean gain in cm over PAH at adult height of 8.17±3.9, range 3–21 cm), and significant also in comparison with the control group. As the chronological age at start of therapy ranged between 4.5 to 15.9 yr, the results were further evaluated dividing the patients into two groups, according to the age, < or >11 yr. Thirty girls were <11 yr (mean 8.7±1.76 yr) and 30 were >11 yr (mean 13.2±1.4 yr). The gain in cm over the PAH in each group was, respectively, 8.1±3.4 and 8.2±4.3 cm without any significant difference between the two groups, showing no negative correlation between the CA at the beginning of GH and the response to treatment.