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Evidence summaries

Recombinant Growth Hormone in Children and Adolescents with Turner Syndrome

Recombinant human growth hormone (hGH) is effective in increasing short-term growth in girls with Turner syndrome and it may increase final height by up to six cm, but final height of treated women is still outside the normal range. Level of evidence: "A"

A Cochrane review (abstract , review [Abstract]) included 4 studies with a total of 365 patients after one year of treatment. Only one trial reported final height in 61 treated women to be 148 cm and 141 cm in 43 untreated women (mean difference (MD) seven cm, 95% CI 6 to 8). Short-term growth velocity was greater in treated than untreated girls after one year (2 trials, MD 3 cm per year, 95% CI 2 to 4) and after two years (1 trial, MD 2 cm per year, 95% CI 1 to 2.3). Skeletal maturity was not accelerated by treatment with recombinant growth hormone (hGH). Adverse effects were minimally reported.

    References

    • Baxter L, Bryant J, Cave CB, Milne R. Recombinant growth hormone for children and adolescents with Turner syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2007 Jan 24;(1):CD003887. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords