Adult Height in Indian Girls with Turner Syndrome Treated with Long-Term Growth Hormone Therapy — A Western India Tertiary Centre Experience

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Owing to paucity of data on adult height in Indian girls with Turner syndrome treated with growth hormone (GH), this study was conducted to assess improvement in height following GH therapy and adult height achieved with long-term GH therapy in Indian girls with Turner syndrome and to assess relationship between achieved and predicted height. METHODOLOGY: Retrospective analysis was performed on 12 girls with karyotype-proven Turner syndrome, who had attained adult height following mean duration of GH therapy of 4.8 years (range: 2.7-7.6). Adult height predictions were performed using index of responsiveness (IOR) and Ranke’s prediction model. RESULTS: Mean age at starting GH was 10.2 ± 1.9 years; Pubertal induction was between 11 and 15 years. Mean height gain was 29.3 ± 9.8 cm (range: 14–39.5) from onset of treatment to adult height. Significant improvement in height Z scores (IAP 2015 and Indian Turner reference data) following GH therapy (p = 0.002 and 0.012, respectively) was noted. Using Indian Turner reference data, the height Z score improved from pre-treatment 0.8 ± 0.8 to 2.0 ± 0.9 on stopping GH and adult height Z score of 1.3 ± 0.7. Using Ranke’s equation for prediction of near adult height, predicted and achieved adult height showed a strong positive correlation (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.827, significant at 0.01 level). CONCLUSION: At a dose in the lower range (40-50 mcg/kg/day) of recommendation and duration of 5 years, Indian girls with Turner syndrome can achieve adult height within the healthy Indian reference range. Dose individualization based on IOR would help in optimizing GH dosage and would turn out to be economically sustainable without compromising on height outcomes.