GH therapy can increase short-term growth and improve ( near ) final height .
Increases in height are such that treated individuals remain relatively short when compared with peers of normal stature .
BACKGROUND Idiopathic short stature ( ISS ) refers to children who are very short compared with their peers for unknown or hereditary reasons .
Recombinant human growth hormone ( GH ) has been used to increase growth and final height in children with ISS .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of recombinant human GH on short-term growth and final height in children with ISS .
Spontaneous adult height in idiopathic short stature.
Two hundred and thirty-six patients with idiopathic short stature ( ISS ) ( 184 m , 52 f ) who presented at a mean age of 12.2 ( range 2.8 - 17.5 ) years , a mean height of -2.16 st and ard deviation score ( SDS ) , a mean target height ( THT ) of -0.27 SDS ( m = f ) , were reinvestigated at a mean age of 20.5 ( range 18 - 24 ) years . 182(142 m , 37 f ) ( 67 % ) had reached  normal adult height ( AHT ) while 54 ( 39 m , 15 f ) ( 23 % ) had not . However , only 23 ( 17 m , 6 f ) did not reach a height within their familial target . Patients were subdivided into 2 groups according to deviation from familial height target : 60(44 m , 16 f ) were considered adequate for their families ( group 1 ) , while 176 ( 140 m , 39 f ) were smaller ( group 2 ) . Children in group 1 were younger and bone age ( BA ) was less retarded . Patients in group 1 reached their THT , this was not the case in group 2 . Young age , low THT and low predicted adult height ( PAH ) at presentation were the factors associated with poor stratural outcome , but AHT could not be predicted in individuals . In boys , PAH ( Bayley-Pinneau ) ( 0.0 SDS ) exceeded AHT ( -0.7 SDS ) , in girls , both were almost identical ( -0.79 , -0.77 SDS ) . Since most children with ISS reach an AHT within the normal range , attempts to improve AHT by means of growth-promoting therapies appear to be justified only in a minority of selected patients with ISS . Methods to improve the accuracy of individual height prognoses are needed
GH therapy can increase short-term growth and improve ( near ) final height .
Increases in height are such that treated individuals remain relatively short when compared with peers of normal stature .
BACKGROUND Idiopathic short stature ( ISS ) refers to children who are very short compared with their peers for unknown or hereditary reasons .
Recombinant human growth hormone ( GH ) has been used to increase growth and final height in children with ISS .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of recombinant human GH on short-term growth and final height in children with ISS .