Prediction of final height in girls with Turner syndrome treated with growth hormone

Treatment with growth hormone (GH) in girls with Turner syndrome (TS) would improve growth velocity (GV) and final height (FH) prediction. A total of 21 girls with TS treated with GH for 1 (n = 21), 2 (n = 1) and 3 years (n = 10) were studied. At the onset of GH treatment, the mean chronological age was 11.6 +/- 2.6 years and the mean bone age was 9.7 +/- 2.4 years. The mean height SDS was: -0.04 +/- 1.0 at the beginning, 0.4 +/- 1.0 at 1(st) year, 0.9 +/- 1.1 at 2(nd) year and 1.25 +/- 0.56 at 3(rd) year of treatment (p = 0.0001, p < 0.0001 and p < 0.05 respectively). The mean GV SDS was 1.6 +/- 1.8 at the beginning, 2.5 +/- 1.7 at 1(st) year, 3.8 +/- 2.9 at 2(nd) year and 2.2 +/- 2.0 at 3(rd) year (p = 0.01, p = 0.04 and p = 0.29 respectively). The FH prediction by Bayley-Pinneau method was: 142.8 +/- 5.2 cm at the beginning, 143.8 +/- 6.0 at 1(st) year, 146.0 +/- 5.9 at 2(nd) year and 145.6 +/- 6.4 at 3(rd) year (p = 0.026, p = 0.05 y p = 0.87 respectively). The mean ending height treatment (EH), in 8 patients, was 145.1 cm +/- 6.7. In conclusion, 1) studied patients showed systematic bone age delay at the beginning of GH treatment; 2) during the treatment, GV increment and improvement in relative heights and in FH prediction were observed; 3) the EH, nearest to the FH prediction, previously made at 3(rd) year of treatment, was 7.2 cm higher than mean FH's for Argentinean girls with TS without GH treatment.