Effect of growth hormone therapy on final versus predicted height in short twelve- to sixteen-year-old boys without growth hormone deficiency

The effect of growth hormone therapy on final height in 28 short boys without growth hormone deficiency was evaluated retrospectively. The boys had received growth hormone for at least 2 years and were close to final height when therapy was stopped. The mean estimated final height was very close to that predicted from the pretherapy bone age. The fact that bone age advanced a mean of 4.9 years during a mean of 3.5 years of therapy may account for the lack of effect on final height. (J P EDIATR 1995;126:478-80)