Endocrine Abstracts

JOINT1430

Turner Syndrome (TS) is a chromosomic disorder characterized by specific clinical features, including short stature. In these patients, recombinant growth hormone (GH) treatment is recommended, showing positive effects on growth rate, with good tolerability. However, growth outcome in TS is reportedly impaired compared with other GH-treated girls, as GH deficiency (GHD) girls. The aim of the study was to compare the growth outcome and the safety of three-years GH treatment in TS and GHD girls. The study 20 girls, 10 with TS (four X0, 40%; six mosaicism, 60%) and 10 with isolated GHD, matched for age (range: 4.17-10.42 years; median: 6.8 ± 2.37) treated with GH (starting dosage: 33.08 ± 4.31 mg/kg/day in TS girls and 32.17 ± 2.51 mg/kg/day in GHD girls) for at least 36 months. Growth parameters, glycemic profile, and IGF-1 levels were collected every six months. Compared to baseline, both TS and GHD children showed a significant improvement in height, weight, and growth rate after two years of GH treatment (p ≤ 0.01), already evident after six months (p ≤ 0.016). Noteworthy, patients in both groups showed a constant, significant improvement in height until 24 months, as a significantly increase was observed both after 12 months compared to six months (p ≤ 0.008) and after 24 months compared to 12 months (p ≤ 0.031), whereas only GHD girls showed a significant increase after 36 months compared to 30 months (P =0.035). Comparing the two study groups, TS girls showed a lower height and a lower height increase throughout the study, but these differences reached statistical significance only after six and 12 months (T6: +0.42 ± 0.23 SDS in TS vs +0.74 ± 0.38 SDS in GHD, P =0.045; T12: +0.59 ± 0.34 vs +0.93 ± 0.39 SDS in GHD, P =0.034). Considering safety profile, treatment was well tolerated, as the most frequently reported adverse event was autoimmune thyroiditis (two TS girls, 10%); no hyperglycemia occurred throughout the treatment, whereas one TS girl (5%) and one GHD girl (5%) experienced transient hypertransaminasemia and hypercholesterolemia, respectively. In conclusion, GH treatment in both TS and GHD girls is an effective, safe treatment for short stature, improving both height and growth rate, especially during the first year of treatment. Moreover, although growth outcomes were significantly better in GHD girls in the first year of treatment, over time no significant differences were observed between TS and GHD girls