Research shows children with short stature may benefit differently from growth hormone therapy

Growth hormone treatment improves height in children with short stature born small for gestational age (SGA-SS), but while their expected adult height may resemble that of those with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), they are unlikely to achieve the same level of improvement seen in patients with GHD.

The retrospective analysis included 33 children with SGA-SS and 54 with GHD, all of whom began GH treatment before age 8. Initial findings showed that children in the SGA-SS group had lower age and height standard deviation scores at the start of treatment, despite receiving slightly higher doses of GH (0.25 mg/kg/week for SGA-SS vs. 0.20 mg/kg/week for GHD).

Over a 3-year period, height velocity was greater in the SGA-SS group, attributed to the higher doses and younger age at treatment initiation. However, both groups exhibited similar outcomes in terms of puberty onset height and predicted adult height. The researchers noted that the increase in height standard deviation scores prior to puberty was significantly greater in the SGA-SS group for both genders.

Reference
Tanaka T, Soneda S, Sato N, et al. Comparison of the effectiveness of prepubertal growth hormone treatment on height and predicted adult height in children with short stature born small for gestational age vs. with a growth hormone deficiency. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2024 Oct 31. doi: 10.1515/jpem-2024-0226. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39473227.