Recombinant human growth hormone treatment in short children with renal disease: Our first experience

INTRODUCTION: Growth retardation is a hallmark of chronic illnesses such as chronic kidney disease in children, and it is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The growth hormone (GH) resistance observed in uraemia can be overcome by supraphysiological doses of exogenous GH. OBJECTIVE: We would like to present our first results of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) treatment, mainly in children on haemodialysis. METHODS: Sixteen children, aged 4.5-17.1 years (mean age 11.25 +/- 3.57) with height below -2.0 standard deviation score (SDS) for age or height velocity below -2.0 SDS for age, were selected to receive rhGH therapy at our Nephrology and Haemodialysis Department. Most of them were on haemodialysis (14 children) with mean spent time 2.88 +/- 2.68 years (0-9 years) before the initiation of rhGH therapy. One half of patients were prepubertal (8 children) and the second half were in early puberty (testicular volume between 4 and 8 ml for boys and breast development B2 or B3 in girls). All patients received 28-30 IU/m2 rhGH per week by daily subcutaneous injection. The year before rhGH therapy served as a control period. RESULTS: During the first year of treatment, mean height velocity in haemodialysis patients increased from 2.25 cm/year to 6.59 cm/year (p < 0.0001) and in the second year it was 5.25 cm/ year (p = 0.004). The mean height SDS in haemodialysis children did not improve significantly during the first year of rhGH treatment (from -3.01 SDS to -2.77 SDS, p = 0.063). Neither weight nor the body mass index varied compared with the pretreatment period. Two patients developed worsened secondary hyperparathyroidism and were excluded from the study, but the relationship with rhGH remains uncertain. CONCLUSION: Mean height velocity significantly improved during rhGH therapy in haemodialysis patients. No significant side-effects were observed in children during three-year treatment with GH.