The literature contains a substantial amount of information about factors that adversely influence the linear growth in up to 85% of patients undergoing haematopoietic SCT (HSCT) with TBI and/or cranial irradiation (CI) for acute leukaemia (AL). By contrast, only a few studies have evaluated the impact of growth hormone (GH) therapy on growth rate and final height (FH) in these children. We evaluated growth rates during the preand post-transplant periods to FH in a group of 25 children treated with HSCT (n ¼ 22), TBI (n ¼ 21) or/and CI (n ¼ 8) for AL and receiving GH therapy. At the start of GH treatment, the median height Z-score was À2.19 (À3.95 to 0.02), significantly lower than at AL diagnosis (Po0.001). Overall height gain from start of GH treatment to FH was 0.59Z (À2.72 to 2.93) with a median height Z-score at FH of À1.35 (À5.35 to 0.27). This overall height gain effect was greater in girls than in boys (P ¼ 0.04). The number of children with heights in the reference population range was greater after than before GH therapy (P ¼ 0.07). At FH the GVHD and GH treatments lasting o2 years were associated with shorter FH (P ¼ 0.02 and 0.05). We found a measurable beneficial effect of GH treatment on growth up to FH.
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