Context: Patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency typically reach a final adult height well below their mid-parental target height.
Objective: The objective of this study was to examine whether GH alone or in combination with an LHRH analog (LHRHa) improved the final adult height in patients with CAH.
Design: The study was a nonrandomized prospective study.
Setting: The study was conducted at two university hospitals in New York City, NY.
Participants: Thirty-four patients with CAH treated with GH participated in this study. Nineteen males and 15 females who were predicted to be more than 2 SD below their mid-parental target height or more than 2 SD below the population mean received GH until reaching final adult height. In addition to GH, 27 patients (16 males, 11 females) were also treated with an LHRHa.
Intervention: The mean duration of GH treatment was 5.6 ± 1.8 yr in males and 4.5 ± 1.6 yr in females. The mean duration of LHRHa therapy was 3.7 ± 1.7 yr for both sexes.
Main outcome measures: The primary endpoint variables were final adult height, final height discrepancy, and gain in height.
Results: Males reached a significantly higher final adult height (172.0 ± 4.8 cm) than their initial predicted height (162.8 ± 7.7 cm) (P < 0.00001). Females also reached a significantly higher final adult height (162.2 ± 5.3 cm) than initially predicted (151.7 ± 5.2 cm) (P < 0.0000001). Mean gain in height was 9.2 ± 6.7 cm in males and 10.5 ± 3.7 cm in females.
Conclusion: Our results indicate that GH alone or in combination with LHRHa improves final adult height in patients with CAH.