Growth Hormone Treatment for Growth Failure in Pediatric Patients with Crohn's Disease

Objective To investigate the effect of human growth hormone (GH) injections on growth velocity in growth-impaired children with Crohn's disease (CD). Study design Ten children and adolescents (mean age, 12.6 ± 4.5 years; 6 males) with CD and poor height growth were treated with open-label recombinant GH, 0.043 mg/kg/day administered via subcutaneous injection, for 1 year. Patients were retrospectively matched with untreated patients (3 comparisons per case) by race, age, sex, and baseline height. Primary endpoint was height velocity; secondary endpoints were disease activity, body composition, and bone density determined by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan. Results Mean height velocity increased by 5.33 ± 3.40 (mean ± standard deviation) cm/year in the GH-treated patients during the year of GH treatment, compared with 0.96 ± 3.52 cm/year in the comparison group ( P = .03). Height z -score increased by 0.76 ± 0.38 in the treated group, compared with 0.16 ± 0.40 in the comparison group ( P z -score increased by 0.81 ± 0.89 in the treated group, compared with 0.00 ± 0.57 in the comparison group ( P z -score ( P = .03 vs baseline). Conclusions GH treatment increases height velocity and may enhance bone mineralization in children with CD. A randomized controlled trial in a large cohort of children is needed to evaluate the ultimate impact of GH treatment.