title: IGF-I and IGFBP-3 assessment in the management of childhood onset growth hormone deficiency.
abstract: The diagnosis of growth hormone (GH) deficiency (GHD) in childhood is not straightforward, being still based on a comprehensive clinical, anthropometric, endocrine and neuroradiological assessment. Due to their GH dependency and relative stability in circulation, IGF-I and IGFBP-3 serum concentrations were proposed as reliable indicators of daily GH secretion. However, the sensitivity of assays for both IGF-I and IGFBP-3 is inadequate to exclude the diagnosis of GHD merely on the basis of a normal value of the two parameters, although it seems likely that IGF-I values higher than -1 SD reflect a normal GH secretion. On the other hand, as the specificity of both measurements is over 90%, subnormal concentrations strongly support the diagnosis of GHD. Finally, combining the evaluation of growth velocity with IGF-I measurement, sensitivity and specificity reach a value > or =95%, implying that two subnormal values strongly suggest and two normal values strongly oppose the diagnosis of GHD.
authors.affiliation: Rina Balducci Center of Pediatric Endocrinology, Department of Public Health and Cell Biology, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cianfarani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liguori
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Germani
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D002648:Child; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency*; D006801:Humans; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I