Feature Article
ASSESSMENT OF PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF SHORT STATURE
DAVID E. SANDBERG, PhD
MELISSA COLSMAN, MA
Departments of Psychiatry & Pediatrics
School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences,
University at Buffalo
State University of New York
Buffalo, New York
The evidence is clear that growth hormone (GH) therapy can virtually
eliminate the predicted height deficit for individuals with classic
GH deficiency (GHD) if treatment is initiated at a sufficiently young
age.1 The unlimited availability of biosynthetic growth
hormone (rhGH) has also made it possible to extend treatment to
children who do not have GHD, but nonetheless exhibit short stature
(SS) or poor growth. Consequently, the treatment of SS has become
dissociated from its causes. Conditions for which rhGH is efficacious
in promoting faster growth and taller stature include a diverse set
of conditions: Turner syndrome,2 chronic renal
insufficiency,3 Prader-Willi syndrome,4
children born small for gestational age5 and, most
recently, idiopathic short stature (ISS), ie, short, but without
diagnosable pathology.6 In addition to eliciting improved
growth velocity, rhGH has also been shown to produce metabolic
benefits in particular conditions, eg, GHD, Prader-Willi syndrome,
and chronic renal insufficiency.
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Current GGH - Vol. 24 No. 1
