Bone diseases in children receiving growth hormone
Published online: Oct 27 2003
Mahmoud SMIDA, Hbib NOURI, Hajer KANDARA, Chakib JALEL, Maher BEN GHACHEM
From Tunis Children's Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia.
Abstract
The authors report two cases of bone disorders in
children with short stature, with confirmed growth
hormone (GH) deficiency treated by GH supplementation.
The first patient, aged 15 years, developed
avascular necrosis of the femoral head and scoliosis.
The second one, aged 17 years, had avascular necrosis
of the femoral capital epiphysis on one side and
acute slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) on
the other side. All these complications were diagnosed
while they were receiving GH-therapy. The exact
aetiology and the role of GH in the pathogenesis of
these conditions are still unknown.