Esther Leiberman

Effect of Growth Hormone Treatment on Quality of Life of Short-Stature Children

While enhanced growth velocity is a well-established benefit following the initiation of growth hormone treatment (GHT), the potential benefit of GHT on quality of life (QOL) of short-stature children has not yet been documented. We compare QOL of two groups of short-stature children who attended the Endocrine Unit (EU) and were 2 SD or more below the average for age and gender. The first group included 96 patients of whom 65 were without any underlying disease, 15 had classical GH deficiency and 16 had Turner syndrome or renal disease. These patients were on GHT for at least 2 years. The other group included 33 patients. Owing to lack of resources to include these 33 patients in a clinical trial, they did not get GHT. They were normal variant of short stature, and their height was similar to the height of the 65 children included in the first group. QOL was assessed using self-administered questionnaires, which were filled out by the patients on their regular visit to the EU. QOL was defined in terms of school achievements, leisure activities, emotional and physical self-esteem, relationships with peers and family members. No significant differences were found between the two groups. The mean scores for the different domains of QOL ranged between 2.6 and 3.8 on a scale ranging from 1 (very pessimistic view) to 4 (very optimistic view).

Coping and satisfaction with growth hormone treatment among short-stature children

The ability of children to cope with a chronic medical problem requiring prolonged treatment has an effect on the quality of life of these children and of their parents and serves as an index of the quality of treatment. This study deals with coping ability and satisfaction with treatment of children whose stature was two or more SD below the average for age and gender. The study population included 96 patients, 53 of whom were male, who were on growth hormone (GH) treatment for at least 1 year. 65 patients were without any underlying disease, 15 had classical GH deficiency and 16 had Turner syndrome or renal disease. All patients were treated with daily injections at home from 12 to 66 months. Using a self-administered questionnaire, the ability to cope and the degree of satisfaction and compliance with treatment were assessed. No significant differences were found with respect to gender, the presence of an underlying disease, age at which treatment commenced or duration of treatment. Despite the fact that the outcome of GH treatment on final height has yet to be established, satisfaction and compliance were high.

Short stature in carriers of recessive mutation causing familial isolated growth hormone deficiency

Isolated growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) IB is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by a good response to exogenous growth hormone (GH) treatment without development of anti-GH antibodies. Patients with IGHD IB were found to be compound heterozygotes for deletion and frameshift mutations as well as homozygotes for splicing mutations in the GH-1 gene. Recently, a novel splicing mutation in the GH-1 gene was identified in an extended, consanguineous Arab-Bedouin family from Israel with IGHD IB. Prior to the identification of this mutation, a considerable number of children with short stature in this family were found normal on pharmacological stimulation for GH release. This observation prompted a genotype/phenotype correlation of potential heterozygotes in the family. Carriers of the mutant GH-1 allele were found as a group to have a significantly shorter stature than normal homozygote (mean standard deviation scores, 1.67 and -0.40, respectively, P<0.05). Moreover, 11 of 33 (33%) heterozygotes, but only 1 of 17 (5.9%) normal homozygotes, had their height at 2 or more SD below the mean. Overall, 48.5% of studied heterozygotes were found to be of appreciably short stature with height at or lower than the 5th centile (> or = -1.7 SD), whereas only 5.9% of the normal homozygotes did (P<0.004). This phenomenon of heterozygotes for a recessive mutation in the GH-1 gene manifesting short stature, might imply that some such mutations may account for non-GH deficiency reduced height in the general population.

Familial Adrenal Feminization Probably due to Increased Steroid Aromatization

5/10 members of a North African family (father, 2 male and 2 female siblings) had gynaecomastia, early growth and short final stature. The 8-year-old propositus had advanced bone age, facial acne, gyn

Age as a determinant of the impact of growth hormone therapy on predicted adult height

OBJECTIVE Final adult height is determined by both childhood and pubertal growth. The later is a function of growth velocity and bone maturation, and both are regulated by growth hormone. In a study of the safety and efficacy of GH therapy, we analysed the Impact of age on bone maturation and predicted adult height.

Clinical Variability of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Due to 11 β-Hydroxylase Deficiency

Studies in 18 Jewish families from Morocco, Tunis, Turkey and Iran revealed 26 patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 11 beta-hydroxylase deficiency. The clinical expression of androgen excess varied widely in affected females, and range from solely enlarged clitoris in the mildest forms to severely hypertrophied clitoris with penile urethra and fused labial-scrotal folds in the most extreme forms of masculinization. Intermediate degrees of severity were manifested by ambiguous genitalia. There was no correlation between the degree of virilization and the signs of mineralocorticoid excess. Severe volume-induced hypertension leading to vascular accidents and death were also observed in severe as well as in mildly virilized patients, while completely masculinized females were sometime normotensive. Overt hypokalemia was present in 6 patients but was not a constant feature of hypertensives. However, all affected individuals, except for 2 infants, had very low levels of plasma renin activity suggesting that a state of volume expansion was indeed present in the majority of cases, even though changes in blood pressure did not always occur. The clinical expression of this disorder is characterized by a wide range of variability in the signs of both androgen and mineralocorticoid excess, which do not necessarily correlate with the quantity of hormones secreted.

Growth and Pubertal Development in Patients with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Due to 11 -β-Hydroxylase Deficiency

To evaluate growth and pubertal development in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 11-beta-hydroxylase deficiency, data were collected retrospectively from the charts of 24 patients, 15 girls and nine boys. Growth before diagnosis was characterized by a rapid acceleration in the second half of the first year of life, with rapid advancement of bone age. Final height was severely compromised in all the patients, regardless of age at diagnosis and quality of therapeutic control. Onset of puberty was precocious in male patients and normal in female patients. In this respect, treatment with hydrocortisone acetate proved to be superior to cortisone acetate or prednisone.