Growth Hormone in the Treatment of Dilated Cardiomyopathy

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Abstract
In their study of the use of growth hormone to treat dilated cardiomyopathy (March 28 issue),1 Fazio et al. describe the beneficial effects of administering recombinant human growth hormone for three months and urge the planning of longer clinical trials to assess the effects of growth hormone in patients with this condition. We are concerned, however, that the levels of insulin-like growth factor I in the patients they describe were doubled and considerably above the normal range. This means that the patients had biochemical acromegaly, and it seems clear that in this instance growth hormone is being used pharmacologically rather than as physiologic replacement therapy.