ABSTRACT Short stature is a common feature, and frequently remains without a specific diagnosis after conventional clinical and laboratorial evaluation. Longitudinal growth is mainly determined by genetic factors, and hundreds of common variants have been associated to height variability among healthy individuals. Although isolated short stature may be caused by the combination of variants, with a deleterious impact on the growth of individuals with polygenic inheritance, recent studies have pointed out some monogenic defects as the cause of the growth […]

Objectives To describe population reference values for shoes size, and to identify possible disproportional foot growth during GH therapy. Materials and methods Construction of percentile chart based on 3,651 controls (male: 1,838; female: 1,813). The GH treated group included 13 children with idiopathic short stature (ISS) and 50 children with normal height, but with height prediction below their target height; male: 26 and female: 37 mean ± SD age 13.3 ± 1.9 and 12.9 ± 1.5 years, respectively. GH (0.05 […]

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of serum IGF-1 in the detection of isolated (IGHD) or combined growth hormone deficiency (CGHD) at the transition phase. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty nine patients with GHD during childhood [16 with IGHD (10 men) and 33 with CGHD (24 men); age 23.2 ± 3.5 yrs.] were submitted to an insulin tolerance test (ITT) with a GH peak < 5 µg/L used for the diagnosis of GHD at the transition phase. Pituitary function and IGF-1 measurements […]

The recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) can improve weight gain, physical growth, clinical and lung in cystic fibrosis (CF). However, the routine use, although promising, is not established in the literature. The objective of this study was to assess the benefits of rhGH in children and adolescents with CF. We conducted a systematic review in the database PubMed, Lilacs, SciELO and Cochrane, in the period 2000-2010, using the keywords: “cystic fibrosis”, “growth hormone”, “children” and “adolescents”. We found 77 articles […]

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the presence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in a cohort of patients with acromegaly. METHODS: This was a cross sectional study. RESULTS: Fifty-eight acromegalic patients were assessed. Only 29% met the criteria for cure, and 27% had the disease controlled. Twenty-two had DM; HbA1c was equal to 7.34 ± 2.2%. Most of the diabetic patients (18 out of 22, 82%) did not meet criteria for cure. They were more often hypertensive [16/22 (73%) vs. 17/36 (46%), p = […]

Human growth hormone (hGH) replacement therapy has been widely available for clinical purposes for more than fifty years. Starting in 1958, hGH was obtained from cadaveric pituitaries, but in 1985 the association between hGH therapy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was reported. In the same year, the use of recombinant hGH (rhGH) was approved. Side effects of rhGH replacement therapy in children and adolescents include rash and pain at injection site, transient fever, prepubertal gynecomastia, arthralgia, edema, benign intracranial hypertension, insulin resistance, […]

Objective: To report the final height (FH) of 76 patients with Turner syndrome (TS). Materials and methods: Review of the files and calculation of z scores: of target height (TH), and FH according to NCHS/CDC/2000 and FH according to Lyon and cols. Results: Patients were classified in three groups: A (n = 16), treatment with estrogens and progestogens; B (n = 21), treatment with oxandrolone (OX); C (n = 39), growth hormone (GH) plus OX. The z score of TH […]

OBJECTIVE: This study reports on the Brazilian Portuguese adaptation of the QoL-AGHDA (Quality of Life Assessment of Growth Hormone Deficiency in Adults) for use in adult growth hormone deficient (GHD) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The translation process adopted the dual panel methodology. The questionnaire was tested through field-test interviews (16 GHD patients). In the final stage, data from 120 GHD patients (81 included in a test-retest analysis) were analyzed for internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity and validity among known […]

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the frequency of subclinical acromegaly (in the absence of clinical phenotype but biochemically uncontrolled) in patients with prolactinoma during treatment with dopaminergic agonists. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: One hundred twenty one patients without a phenotype suggestive of acromegaly were studied. RESULTS: Initially, the laboratory diagnosis of acromegaly was unequivocal (elevated IGF-1 for gender and age with nadir GH > 1 ?g/L) in two patients, and likely (elevated IGF-1 with nadir GH > cut-off but < 1 ?g/L) in […]

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the growth hormone (GH) response to glucagon stimulation test (GST) in a population of healthy men over 50 years old in comparison to insulin tolerance test (ITT), analysis of the spontaneous 24-hour GH profile and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I). METHODS: 27 healthy men aged between 51 and 65 years were tested. RESULTS: Using non-parametric correlation analysis, a positive correlation between GH peak after GST and mean IGF-I (r = 0.528; p = 0.005) was found, as […]

Morning glory syndrome (MGS) is a congenital optic disc dysplasia often associated with craniofacial anomalies, especially basal encephalocele and hypopituitarism. Clinical signs are varied and often occult. The PAX6 gene is involved in ocular morphogenesis and is expressed in numerous ocular tissues during development especially in the developing central nervous system. The aim of the present study is to evaluate PAX6 in MGS associated with isolated growth hormone deficiency. Three pre-pubertal males (A, B and C) with MGS and short […]

The evaluation of growth hormone (GH) secretion continues to be important in acromegaly and the nadir GH (n-GH) level in the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is the gold standard for the demonstration of secretory autonomy of this hormone. n-GH levels < 1 µg/L are defined as normal suppression but, using current assays, n-GH < 1 µg/L is detected in patients with untreated acromegaly and this value seems to be much lower in normal subjects. The objective of the present […]