Change in total body water as a predictive tool for growth hormone treatment response.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether short-term changes in body composition as a result of growth hormone therapy could be used to predict its growth effect after 1 year in children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and children born small for gestational age (SGA).


METHODS
88 GHD children and 99 SGA children who started treatment with recombinant human growth hormone were included. Total body water (TBW) and height were measured. After 1 year, patients were divided into adequate and inadequate responders.


RESULTS
In GHD and SGA children a sensitivity of 87 and 53%, respectively, and a specificity of 58 and 83%, respectively, were found. The positive predictive values for GHD and SGA children were 73 and 90%, respectively. The negative predictive values were 75 and 32%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Changes in body composition data measured by TBW are a valuable tool to correctly predict 75% of the GHD children and are only useful in SGA children when the change in TBW is above the cut-off value of 0.7 l/m(2).
Department of Paediatrics, School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Manon A B
MA
Ernst
Michelle Y G
MY
Simons
Angèle J G M
AJ
Gerver
Gladys R J
GR
Zandwijken
Luc J I
LJ
Zimmermann
Willem-Jan M
WJ
Gerver
D054316:Biomarkers, Pharmacological / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D001834:Body Water / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003903:Deuterium; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D054316:Biomarkers, Pharmacological; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D003903:Deuterium