Puberty in growth hormone-treated children born small for gestational age (SGA)

Seventy-five small for gestational age (SGA) children were studied in a randomized, double-blind, dose-response GH trial with either 1 or 2 mg GH/m(2).d. Mean (SD) age at the start of GH therapy was 7.3 (2.2) yr. Data were compared with Dutch reference data. In SGA boys, mean (SD) age at onset of puberty was 12.0 (1.0) and 11.6 (0.7) yr, and in SGA girls it was 10.9 (1.1) and 10.6 (1.2) yr when treated with 1 and 2 mg GH/m(2).d, respectively. SGA boys treated with the lower GH dose started puberty later than the appropriate for gestational age (AGA) controls; for the other GH-dosage groups there was no significant difference in age at onset of puberty compared to AGA controls. The age at menarche and the interval between breast stage M2 and menarche were not significantly different for GH-treated SGA girls compared to their peers. The duration of puberty and pubertal height gain of GH-treated SGA boys and girls were not significantly different between the two GH-dosage groups and were comparable with untreated short children born SGA. In conclusion, long-term GH therapy in short SGA children has no influence on the age at onset and progression of puberty compared to AGA controls, regardless of treatment with a dose of 1 or 2 mg GH/m(2).d. Duration of puberty and pubertal height gain were not significantly different between the GH-dosage groups.