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Most short children do not have an underlying cause identified and are considered to have idiopathic short stature (ISS). In a systematic review, researchers identified three randomized and seven nonrandomized controlled trials of growth hormone (GH) treatment of ISS (defined as height >2 standard deviations below the mean) in prepubertal children with peak GH responses >10 μg/L and without prior GH treatment or comorbid conditions affecting growth. Adult height was determined when growth rate was <1.5 cm/year or bone age reached 15 years in females and 16 years in males.
In two randomized trials, mean differences in adult height in children who received GH (30 cases; dose range, 0.033–0.067 mg/kg/day) compared with 17 controls were 7.4 cm (…