Skeletal maturity was not accelerated by treatment with recombinant growth hormone ( hGH ) .
Adverse effects were minimally reported .
There is little evidence of serious short-term adverse effects in these trials , but they are underpowered to detect rare adverse effects .
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Recombinant human growth hormone ( hGH ) doses between 0.3 - 0.375 mg/kg/wk increase short-term growth in girls with Turner Syndrome ( TS ) by approximately 3 cm in the first year of treatment and by approximately 2 cm per year after 2 years of treatment .
There is little evidence on the effects of hGH on final height .
BACKGROUND Turner syndrome ( TS ) affects about one in 1,500 to 2,500 live-born females .
One of the most prevalent and salient features of the syndrome is extremely short stature .
Untreated women are approximately 20 - 21 cm shorter than normal women within their respective population s. Recombinant human growth hormone ( hGH ) has been used to increase growth and final height in women who have Turner syndrome .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of recombinant growth hormone on short-term growth and final height in children and adolescents with Turner syndrome .
Final Height of Growth Hormone-Treated GH-Deficient Children and Girls with Turner’s Syndrome: The Dutch Experience
In the Dutch growth hormone ( GH ) registration data base there are currently 552 GH-deficient children being treated , subcutaneously , with recombinant human GH six to seven times per week . Of those , 112 who have been treated for at least 2 years have reached final height . Mean age at start of therapy was 11.70 years . Mean GH dose was 15.5 IU/m2 body surface per week . Mean final height  was 173.2 cm ( boys ) and 159.7 cm ( girls ) and –1.36 SD of the population mean . Of the patients , 73.2 % and 63.4 % , respectively , reached a final height  above –2 SD of the population or within target limits . FH-SDS was higher compared with the results of earlier cohorts with different treatment regimens . Target height , GH peak value at diagnosis , age at start of GH therapy , height SDS ( HSDS ) at start of puberty , and duration of GH therapy were significantly correlated with final height . These results , combined with those of a prospect i ve GH dose-response study , suggest that better long-term results can be obtained with early and prolonged treatment and if the GH dose is individually adapted to the short-term growth response . In an ongoing dose-response study , 68 girls with Turner ’s syndrome , aged 2–11 years , were r and omized into three dosage groups with a daily GH dose of : ( group A ) 4 IU/m2 body surface ; ( group B ) 4 IU/m2 in the first year of therapy and 6 IU/m2 thereafter ; ( group C ) 4 IU/m2 in the first year , 6 IU/m2 in the second year , and 8 IU/m2 thereafter . After 4 years of GH therapy , girls aged 12 years or older started low-dose oestrogen therapy . After 7 years of GH  therapy , mean HSDS in all three groups had increased to values above the third percentile for healthy girls . Mean final height and final height gain of 25 girls was 159.1 and 12.5 cm , 161.8 and 14.6 cm , and 162.7 and 16.0 cm in groups A , B and C respectively . These long-term and final height results are more favourable than the results of earlier Dutch Turner ’s syndrome studies . Possible explanations are the higher GH doses and /or the younger age at start of GH therapy
Skeletal maturity was not accelerated by treatment with recombinant growth hormone ( hGH ) .
Adverse effects were minimally reported .
There is little evidence of serious short-term adverse effects in these trials , but they are underpowered to detect rare adverse effects .
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Recombinant human growth hormone ( hGH ) doses between 0.3 - 0.375 mg/kg/wk increase short-term growth in girls with Turner Syndrome ( TS ) by approximately 3 cm in the first year of treatment and by approximately 2 cm per year after 2 years of treatment .
There is little evidence on the effects of hGH on final height .
BACKGROUND Turner syndrome ( TS ) affects about one in 1,500 to 2,500 live-born females .
One of the most prevalent and salient features of the syndrome is extremely short stature .
Untreated women are approximately 20 - 21 cm shorter than normal women within their respective population s. Recombinant human growth hormone ( hGH ) has been used to increase growth and final height in women who have Turner syndrome .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of recombinant growth hormone on short-term growth and final height in children and adolescents with Turner syndrome .