Wachstumshormontherapie bei SGA-Kleinwuchs

Children born SGA without catch-up growth should be treated with growth hormone from the 4th year of live until the end of their growth phase. The appropriate dose is 0.035 mg/kg/d. SGA children went through an intrauterine programming influencing stature, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, blood pressure, body fat mass, neurological and pubertal development. Growth hormone therapy tends to normalise height, body mass, lipid metabolism, blood pressure and neurological development. The growth of babies born SGA should be monitored on a regular basis to demonstrate long term catch up growth. SGA patients under growth hormone treatment need a regular supervision of growth and metabolic parameters by an experienced paediatric endocrinologist to optimise growth hormone therapy and minimise side effects such as insulin resistance.