Growth Hormone Use in Normal, Short Children — A Plea for Reason

In the United States, recombinant growth hormone is approved for use in children for three conditions: growth hormone deficiency, Turner's syndrome, and chronic renal insufficiency before transplantation. Because the supply of growth hormone is unlimited and treatment has few adverse effects, it is not surprising that there is interest in treating children with short stature who do not have classic growth hormone deficiency.But what is short stature? Is it a height that is more than 2 SD below the mean for age and sex (less than the 3rd percentile)? If so, should treatment with growth hormone in an otherwise . . .