Growth hormone therapy for Turner syndrome: evidence for benefit

Abstract

Growth hormone (GH) is registered for children with Turner syndrome (TS) in several countries. Improving the final heights (FH) is certainly the most worthy goal of therapy, but evaluation of treatment effect is complicated by methodological difficulties. Several series of FH results have now been published, with estimated benefits ranging from 0-9.3 cm, as compared to predicted height before treatment. The majority of studies report height gains of less than 5 cm, but in these studies, GH was started at a relatively late age and used at low doses. Several approaches can be utilized to improve FH results in TS, including early initiation of GH therapy, increased or optimized GH dose regimens, or optimization of sexual steroid utilization.