Response of Growth-Retarded Patients with Hand–Schüller–Christian Disease to Growth Hormone Therapy

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Abstract
Five patients with growth retardation due to Hand–Schüller–Christian disease were treated for a maximum of two years with human growth hormone, which was administered intramuscularly, three times per week, in doses of 2 IU. All patients experienced a significant increment in growth rate in comparison to the year before the therapy. During the first year of therapy the mean growth rate was 7.5 cm—an increase of 5.2 cm over the pretreatment year (p< 0.01). The growth rate during the second year of treatment was less, with a mean increase of 2.8 cm per year (P<0.05). These results are similar to the response of patients with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency and add further evidence that the growth retardation associated with Hand–Schüller–Christian disease is due to an acquired growth hormone secretory deficiency. (N Engl J Med 292:332–333, 1975)