Abstract. One hundred and 8 patients with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency with spontaneous pubertal maturation (group A), were followed until they reached their final height after hGH treatment lasting between 2 and 11.1 (average 5.5) years. Their standard deviation scores of final height averaged 3.3 sd below the population mean, which was significantly lower than 1.1 standard deviation below the mean in 29 GH deficient patients without spontaneous puberty (group B) who were treated with hGH and sex hormones. The presence of gonadal function was found to be unbeneficial for final height. The final height of the patients in both groups was not related to either 1) age at the start of hGH treatment, 2) age at the onset of puberty, or 3) the duration of hGH treatment. It was, however, significantly related to the standard deviation score of height at the start of hGH treatment in both groups and to that of height at the onset of puberty in group A. The findings demonstrated that earlier introduction of hGH treatment resulted in earlier onset of puberty in group A, because the chronological age at the onset of puberty was positively correlated to the chronological age at the start of hGH treatment. It was also confirmed that the later puberty began, the taller the final height in GH deficient patients who had the same degree of standard deviation score of height for chronological age before puberty.
Differential diagnosis between constitutional delay of growth and puberty, idiopathic growth hormone deficiency and congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism: a clinical challenge for the pediatric endocrinologist
