Anthropometric measurements in patients with growth hormone deficiency before treatment with human growth hormone

In 74 children (52 , 22 ) with growth hormone (GH) deficiency (30 cases with isolated GH-deficiency, two of them familial; 4 familial and one isolated case with tendency for formation of antibodies against hGH; 29 with other pituitary hormone defects; 10 craniopharyngiomas), various anthropometric measurements were analyzed before treatment with hGH. In all groups, standing height, sitting height, and subischial leg height were equally retarded, and bihumeral width was more retarded than biilac width; the head was relatively large; fat tissue was increased with subscapular skinfolds being greater than triceps skinfolds, indicating relative obesity of the trunk; muscle and/or bone mass was reduced. In isolated GH-deficiency, head shape was slightly scaphoid; in combined defects, it was round, and in craniopharyngioma cases, it was brachycephalic. It is concluded that anthropometric measurements may help in differentiating the type of GH-deficiency.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. H.-R. Wiedemann on the occasion of his 65th birthday