Recombinant Human Growth Hormone After Transplantation HEIGHT VELOCITY AND HEIGHT STANDARD DEVIATION SCORES

FIGURE 16-27 Because growth often remains poor despite a functioning renal graft, a large multicenter controlled study was initiated to evaluate the effectiveness of recombinant human growth hormone in stimulating growth in children with a kidney allograft. In all three groups a significantly different growth velocity and change in height SDS occurred during the first year of treatment with growth hormone (P < 0.0001) compared with a control group. Preliminary data from the second year of treatment also show a continued improvement in growth velocity compared with baseline; however, not of the magnitude seen during the first year. The mean glomerular filtration rate did not change significantly in the group receiving growth hormone. Acute rejection episodes were noted more frequently during treatment with growth hormone, especially for patients with a history of more than one episode. However, other factors, such as noncompliance with immunosuppressive medications, were not analyzed and cannot be excluded. Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. SDS—standard deviation score. (From Broyer [28]; with permission.)