Final Adult Height in Girls Treated with GnRH Analogues for Precocious Puberty Around Age Eight

<b>Introductions:</b> Precocious puberty initiated at a very young age causes a severe loss in height potential and should be treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa). Controversial findings exist regarding the efficacy of GnRHa treatment in girls with central precoci...

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Main Authors: Semra Bahar Akın, İlker Tolga Özgen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Children
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/6/756
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author Semra Bahar Akın
İlker Tolga Özgen
author_facet Semra Bahar Akın
İlker Tolga Özgen
author_sort Semra Bahar Akın
collection DOAJ
description <b>Introductions:</b> Precocious puberty initiated at a very young age causes a severe loss in height potential and should be treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa). Controversial findings exist regarding the efficacy of GnRHa treatment in girls with central precocious puberty (CPP) onset around the age of 8. This research assessed the impact of GnRHa treatment on the final height (FAH) of 117 girls diagnosed with CPP within this age group. <b>Methods:</b> This retrospective study included 117 CPP girls diagnosed at around age 8 (7–9 years old). Girls who started treatment between the ages of 8 and 9 (<i>n</i> = 71) and 7 and 8 (<i>n</i> = 46) were divided into groups 1 and 2, respectively. Predicted height (PAH), target height (TH), and FAH were calculated from medical records. Girls’ PAH, TH, and FAH were also compared between groups. <b>Results:</b> At beginning of treatment, the girls’ average ages were 8.59 ± 0.27 in group 1 and 7.50 ± 0.47 in group 2. In groups 1 and 2, GnRHa therapy durations were 1.97 ± 0.54 and 2.91 ± 0.61, respectively. There were no significant differences in TH (160.53 ± 5.49 vs. 160.57 ± 4.94), PAH (158.72 ± 5.23 vs. 158.35 ± 5.57), and FAH (162.42 ± 5.32 vs. 162.14 ± 5.70) between groups. FAH improved 4 cm from PAH in both (<i>p</i> = 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that baseline height SDS was the main FAH predictor (Beta: 0.572, <i>p</i> = 0.001). <b>Conclusions:</b> GnRHa may improve FAH even if the treatment is delayed after age 8. However, as this improvement is limited for this age group, the therapy option should be individualized and should not be considered for all children.
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spelling doaj-art-e9f37e0f9fac4e319c98e07c8ed401282025-08-20T03:27:26ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672025-06-0112675610.3390/children12060756Final Adult Height in Girls Treated with GnRH Analogues for Precocious Puberty Around Age EightSemra Bahar Akın0İlker Tolga Özgen1Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, Health Sciences University Derince Training and Research Hospital, Derince 41100, Kocaeli, TurkeyDivision of Pediatric Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, Biruni University Hospital, Küçükçekmece 34290, Istanbul, Turkey<b>Introductions:</b> Precocious puberty initiated at a very young age causes a severe loss in height potential and should be treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa). Controversial findings exist regarding the efficacy of GnRHa treatment in girls with central precocious puberty (CPP) onset around the age of 8. This research assessed the impact of GnRHa treatment on the final height (FAH) of 117 girls diagnosed with CPP within this age group. <b>Methods:</b> This retrospective study included 117 CPP girls diagnosed at around age 8 (7–9 years old). Girls who started treatment between the ages of 8 and 9 (<i>n</i> = 71) and 7 and 8 (<i>n</i> = 46) were divided into groups 1 and 2, respectively. Predicted height (PAH), target height (TH), and FAH were calculated from medical records. Girls’ PAH, TH, and FAH were also compared between groups. <b>Results:</b> At beginning of treatment, the girls’ average ages were 8.59 ± 0.27 in group 1 and 7.50 ± 0.47 in group 2. In groups 1 and 2, GnRHa therapy durations were 1.97 ± 0.54 and 2.91 ± 0.61, respectively. There were no significant differences in TH (160.53 ± 5.49 vs. 160.57 ± 4.94), PAH (158.72 ± 5.23 vs. 158.35 ± 5.57), and FAH (162.42 ± 5.32 vs. 162.14 ± 5.70) between groups. FAH improved 4 cm from PAH in both (<i>p</i> = 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that baseline height SDS was the main FAH predictor (Beta: 0.572, <i>p</i> = 0.001). <b>Conclusions:</b> GnRHa may improve FAH even if the treatment is delayed after age 8. However, as this improvement is limited for this age group, the therapy option should be individualized and should not be considered for all children.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/6/756GnRHa treatmentfinal adult heightbone mineral densitybody mass indexafter 8 years oldprecocious puberty
spellingShingle Semra Bahar Akın
İlker Tolga Özgen
Final Adult Height in Girls Treated with GnRH Analogues for Precocious Puberty Around Age Eight
Children
GnRHa treatment
final adult height
bone mineral density
body mass index
after 8 years old
precocious puberty
title Final Adult Height in Girls Treated with GnRH Analogues for Precocious Puberty Around Age Eight
title_full Final Adult Height in Girls Treated with GnRH Analogues for Precocious Puberty Around Age Eight
title_fullStr Final Adult Height in Girls Treated with GnRH Analogues for Precocious Puberty Around Age Eight
title_full_unstemmed Final Adult Height in Girls Treated with GnRH Analogues for Precocious Puberty Around Age Eight
title_short Final Adult Height in Girls Treated with GnRH Analogues for Precocious Puberty Around Age Eight
title_sort final adult height in girls treated with gnrh analogues for precocious puberty around age eight
topic GnRHa treatment
final adult height
bone mineral density
body mass index
after 8 years old
precocious puberty
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/6/756
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