Growth Hormone Therapy to Improve Adult Height in Patients with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Many patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) do not reach a final adult height within their parentally determined target height range. Our group has reported the effect of growth hormone (GH) alone or in combination with luteinizing hormone releasing hormone analog (LHRHa) on final adult height in 34 patients with CAH. Final adult height was significantly higher than baseline predicted height in both males (172.0 + 4.8 cm versus 162.8 + 7.7 cm, P < 0.00001) and females (162.2 + 5.3 cm versus 151.7 + 5.2 cm, P < 0.0000001). Mean gain in height was 9.2 + 6.7 cm for males and 10.5 + 3.7 cm for females. The gain in height was not statistically different between classical and non-classical patients. Patients with poor adrenal control did not have as much gain in height from the GH therapy as those who were in fair or good adrenal control. Our studies indicate that GH alone or in combination with LHRHa is an effective therapy for improving final adult height in CAH.