Silver-Russell Syndrome & Small for Gestational Age : Long-term health perspectives

For over 25 years, our research group and others have been investigating children born small for gestational age (SGA) with persistent short stature, and the efficacy and safety of biosynthetic growth hormone treatment (GH) in these children.
One of the causes of short SGA is Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS). This doctoral thesis presents the response to, and safety of GH treatment, and describes pubertal progression and metabolic health in patients with SRS.
Because being born with a lower birth weight leads to an increased risk for age-associated diseases, health in later life has been a concern in patients born SGA. In the second part of this thesis, we present data on parameters associated with health in later life, such as telomere length and bone mineral density, and the effects of GH treatment on these parameters.