IS IT POSSIBLE TO DECREASE THE CONVENTIONAL GROWTH HORMONE DOSAGE IN GROWTH-DEFICIENT CHILDREN?

Objective: The prospect of financial savings by decreasing growth hormone dose, prompted us to study the effectiveness of lower dose treatment. Subjects and methods: We studied 97 growth hormone deficient (GHD) children in two groups: 1) The study group (n=39) was treated with recombinant human GH (rhGH) at a low dose of 0.15 mg/kg/week 2) The control group (n=58) was treated with rhGH, at a conventional dose of 0.2 mg/kg/week. All patients were evaluated for auxology, Insulin like growth factor-1(IGF-1) and Insulin like growth factor binding protein-3-(IGFBP3) levels at baseline, 6 and 12 months after starting GH therapy. Results: While there was no significant difference in IGF-1, IGFBP3, growth velocity (GV), and growth velocity SDS (GVSDS) levels after 6 months of therapy between the two groups, the GV and GVSDS levels were significantly higher in the control group after 12 months. This difference contributed to significant pu-bertal spurt in the control group. In both groups, no significant correlation was found among parental heights, target heights, IGF-1 and IGFBP3 levels with GV and GVSDS. Conclusion: By decreasing the conventional GH treatment dose, we also decrease the cost of GH treatmen