Use of rhGH in children with chronic kidney disease: lessons from NAPRTCS

We evaluated the utilization and potential benefits of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and following renal transplantation in a large patient cohort. We queried the chronic renal insufficiency (CRI), dialysis, and transplant registries of the North American Pediatric Renal Trials and Collaborative Studies (NAPRTCS) to characterize the frequency of rhGH utilization, factors related to its usage, and the relationship between rhGH usage and catch-up growth. Data from 6,505, 5,122, and 4,478 CRI, dialysis, and transplant patients, respectively, was evaluated. Percentage utilization of rhGH 2 years after registry entry was 22%, 33%, and 3% in children with a height standard deviation score (SDS) <−1 and age <17 years (termed candidate group) in CRI, dialysis, and transplant patients, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the likelihood of using rhGH was significantly correlated with age, gender, geographical region of residence and height category within the candidate group (p < 0.01). The use of rhGH was associated with catch-up growth in 27%, 11%, and 25% of candidate CRI, dialysis, and transplant patients, respectively. In the candidate group, percentage catch-up growth was highest in children who were Tanner stage 1–2, who comprised 19.4%, 7.1%, and 25.5% of the CRI, dialysis, and transplant patients, respectively. Using multiple regression analysis, the estimated impact of rhGH on final adult height (age >19 years) was 0.80, 0.50, and 0.19 SDS, in CRI, dialysis, and transplant patients, respectively. Thus, rhGH can improve height gain in some children with CKD. The use of rhGH appears to be most effective in prepubertal children with CRI.