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J L Chaussain

Publications and source records attributed to J L Chaussain.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Growth hormone treatment of short children born small for gestational age: reappraisal of the rate of bone maturation over 2 years and metanalysis of height gain over 4 years.

A minority of children born small for gestational age (SGA) fail to achieve sufficient catch-up growth during infancy and remain short throughout childhood, apparently without being growth hormone (GH) deficient. A previous metanalysis of four trials revealed that GH treatment over a period of 2 years induced a dose-dependent acceleration of linear growth and, to a lesser extent, of the rate of bone maturation in short, prepubertal children born SGA. The rate of bone maturation and the change in height SDS for bone age from the previous 2-year metanalysis have been re-analysed according to chronological age (two prepubertal age groups: group A, 3.0-5.9 years old; group B, 6.0-8.9 years old). The rate of bone maturation was slower in younger than in older prepubertal children; this difference was more marked in children receiving high-dose (0.2 or 0.3 IU/kg/day) GH treatment (p < or = 0.01). Accordingly, the change in height SDS for bone age was increased by high-dose GH treatment in both age groups (p < or = 0.01), and was more pronounced in younger than in older children (1.45 +/- 0.28 versus 0.63 +/- 0.20; p < or = 0.01). Height SDS data from 100 short, prepubertal children born SGA have been analysed over 4 years. The change in height SDS appeared to be related to the average dose of GH. A mean GH dose of 0.1 IU/kg/day over 4 years was administered either as 0.1 IU/kg/day for 4 years (continuous) or as 0.2 IU/kg/day for 2 years, followed by 2 years without GH treatment (discontinuous). After 4 years of treatment, the increase in height SDS for the continuous and discontinuous treatment schedules was similar, being 1.42 +/- 0.10 SDS and 1.58 +/- 0.17 SDS, respectively. In a second regimen, a mean GH dose of 0.2 IU/kg/day over 3 years was administered either as 0.2 IU/kg/day for 3 years (continuous) or as 0.3 IU/kg/day for 2 years, followed by 1 year without GH treatment (discontinuous). After 3 years, the increase in height SDS with the continuous and discontinuous treatment schedules was similar, being 2.01 +/- 0.18 SDS and 2.22 +/- 0.16 SDS, respectively. GH administration was well tolerated in all treatment groups. In conclusion, the rate of bone maturation in short, prepubertal children born SGA treated with GH appeared to depend not only on the dose of GH, but also on the age of the child. GH treatment resulted in a prolonged increase in height SDS, the magnitude of the rise being dependent on the average GH dose rather than on the continuous or discontinuous mode of GH administration.

Body Height↗

Urinary growth hormone excretion: results of a multicenter study in France.

Urinary growth hormone excretion (uGH), expressed as the average of three consecutive nocturnal measurements, was studied in 324 prepubertal and pubertal children without (n = 188) or with (n = 136) growth disorders. In prepubertal control children (n = 127), the mean uGH was 11.9 +/- 4.9 ng/l without any correlation with sex or age. During puberty, a significant increase of uGH was observed in both sexes (boys: prepubertal 12.3 +/- 4.84 vs. pubertal 16.2 +/- 4.7 ng/l; girls: prepubertal 11.6 +/- 4.99 vs. pubertal 18.3 +/- 8.5 ng/l). In children with growth disorders, the results observed in various categories show a highly significant decrease in organic hypopituitary patients (p < 10(-6)) and obese subjects (p < 10(-6)) when compared to normal prepubertal children. In contrast, a significant increase was observed in 5 Laron-type dwarfisms (p < 10(-6)). However, in 24 children with partial growth hormone deficiency assessed by blood measurements (two pharmacological tests between 5 and 10 ng/ml), the results were not significantly different from the controls (13.6 +/- 6.4 ng/l). In a group of 66 children with short stature and normal blood response to pharmacological tests, uGH concentrations were significantly higher than those of the control group (17.3 +/- 8.71 ng/l, p < 10(-6)). The data suggest that uGH measurements lead to findings comparable to blood measurements, avoiding the disturbance of pharmacological tests, in well-delimited categories of patients. In contrast, uGH measurements are not the best way to detect partial GH-deficient children, but may be used to screen partial peripheral GH resistance in children with nonendocrine short stature.

Adolescent↗

Growth hormone treatment induces a dose-dependent catch-up growth in short children born small for gestational age: a summary of four clinical trials.

In the present study, data from 230 short children born small for gestational age, who were participating in four clinical trials, were pooled and analysed. At the start of GH treatment, median age and height SDS were 5.3 years and -3.2 SDS, respectively. A dose-dependent increase in height SDS was observed following 2 years of GH treatment: 1.1, 1.7 and 2.5 SDS for the three GH treatment groups (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 IU/kg/day, respectively), compared with an increase of 0.14 SDS in the control group. In a multiple regression analysis, four variables were found to correlate independently with the gain in height SDS following 2 years of GH treatment. These are given below in order of importance: gain in height SDS = 7.7 x dose of GH (IU/kg/day) -0.11 x age (years) -0.08 x parental-adjusted height SDS + 0.05 x birth length SDS (SD = 0.5; r2 = 0.64). At the end of the 2-year study period, a total of 48%, 66% and 90% of patients in the groups given GH at 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 IU/kg/day, respectively, had a parental-adjusted height greater than -1.0 SDS.

Body Height↗

Growth hormone treatment of children with short stature secondary to intra-uterine growth retardation: effect of 2 years' treatment and 2 years' follow-up.

Growth hormone (GH) treatment has been proposed to improve final height in patients with short stature associated with intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR). In this study, 30 prepubertal patients aged 9.5 +/- 0.9 years with IUGR and normal GH secretion on pharmacological testing were treated with GH. These patients had a mean birth length of -3.11 +/- 0.80 SDS, and mean growth retardation of -2.58 +/- 0.49 SDS for chronological age. GH, 1.4 IU/kg/week (= 0.07 mg/kg/day), was given for 2 years. Height gain (calculated as the difference of height SDS at baseline and after 2 years) was 1.3 +/- 0.4 SD and was not significantly correlated with height SDS or growth velocity at baseline. These data confirm that 2 years of recombinant human GH treatment increases height gain in patients with IUGR. Two years after treatment interruption, mean gain was maintained at +1.08 SDS and 83% of the children had normal height.

Age Determination by Skeleton↗

Growth hormone therapy for Turner syndrome: evidence for benefit.

Growth hormone (GH) is registered for children with Turner syndrome (TS) in several countries. Improving the final heights (FH) is certainly the most worthy goal of therapy, but evaluation of treatment effect is complicated by methodological difficulties. Several series of FH results have now been published, with estimated benefits ranging from 0-9.3 cm, as compared to predicted height before treatment. The majority of studies report height gains of less than 5 cm, but in these studies, GH was started at a relatively late age and used at low doses. Several approaches can be utilized to improve FH results in TS, including early initiation of GH therapy, increased or optimized GH dose regimens, or optimization of sexual steroid utilization.

Growth Hormone↗

Growth hormone testing for the diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency in childhood: a population register-based study.

Evaluation of GH secretion using pharmacological GH stimulation tests (GHST) remains a current practice, although the reliability of GHST has been questioned, and many pitfalls have been pointed out. We have analyzed all of the 6373 GH stimulation tests that led to the initiation of GH therapy in 3233 children treated in France from 1973-1989. Tests and GH measurements were performed by individual centers and collected by the Association France-Hypophyse. GH deficiency (GHD) was due to craniospinal irradiation (11%), was due to organic causes or associated with multiple deficiencies (22%), or was considered idiopathic (65%); 2% of the patients were considered non-GHD. Eleven different pharmacological tests were used, and 62 of the 66 theoretical pairs of tests were used at least once. The most frequent combination of tests (ornithine in one instance and insulin in another) was used in 12.7% of patients. The reliability of the GH peak measured by comparing the results of 2 tests in the same patient was poor, as measured by intraclass correlation coefficients below 0.8. Multivariate analysis identified several parameters positively or negatively associated with peak plasma GH: calendar year of initiation of treatment, etiology of GHD, height SD score, bone age SD score, puberty, weight SD score, genetic target height SD score, and the nature of the pharmacological agent used. We believe that several of these factors (weight SD score, genetic target height SD score, and nature of the agent) identify biases in the diagnosis of GHD. We conclude that GHST should be performed with a very limited number of agents, interpreted after the establishment of reference values in age-matched normal children, and associated with other clinical and biochemical parameters for establishing the diagnosis of GHD.

Adolescent↗

Thyroid sonographic abnormalities in McCune-Albright syndrome.

McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS) is characterised by the clinical triad precocious puberty, polyostotic bone dysplasia and café-au-lait skin lesions. Some studies have shown the possibility of multiple endocrinological disorders in this condition, especially thyroid disorders. We report the case of three girls with MAS and a heteromultinodular thyroid at sonography, despite the fact that they were clinically and biologically euthyroid. This raises the question of the follow-up and treatment of these lesions.

Adenoma↗

[Adrenocortical carcinoma in children: retrospective study of 54 cases].

BACKGROUND: Adrenal tumors rarely occur in childhood. Their criteria for malignancy, as well as the effects of chemotherapy remain poorly defined. POPULATION: Fourty-five children (median age: 4 years) with an adrenal tumor diagnosed between 1973 and 1993 were included in this study. RESULTS: Seventy-six percent of the children showed various degrees of virilization. Tumor was palpable in 57%. Most patients (80%) had local disease, 7% loco-regional disease and 13% distant metastases. Forty-five children underwent an apparently complete surgical resection. Recurrence occurred 2 to 17 months after surgery in 18 of them (40%). Twenty-four children received medical treatment (o.p'-DDD or chemotherapy) and one-third had a tumoral response. The overall 5 year survival rate was 49%. CONCLUSIONS: Adrenocortical neoplasms have a poor prognosis in childhood. Complete resection is the only effective and potentially curative treatment. Currently no effective chemotherapy exists, and the value of adjuvant therapy remains unproven. Multicentric studies are underway to evaluate the efficacy of therapeutic approaches.

Adolescent↗

[Association of mixed gonadal dysgenesis and non-classic 21-hydroxylase deficiency].

BACKGROUND: The rare association of mixed gonadal dysgenesis and non classical congenital hyperplasia by 21-hydroxylase deficiency poses the problem of their respective responsibility in the development of sexual ambiguity. CASE REPORT: In a newborn with ambiguous genitalia, blood 17-OH progesterone was moderately elevated (3.9 to 14.1 ng/mL) leading to the diagnosis of non-classical 21 hydroxylase deficiency, Molecular studies later confirmed this diagnosis. However, the presence of a palpable gonad and the karyotype (45 X/46 XY mosaicism) indicated a mixed gonadal dysgenesis as the cause of sexual ambiguity. Histological examination revealed the presence of a testis and a streak gonad. CONCLUSION: This observation emphasizes the need for a complete clinical and biological analysis in all newborns with sexual ambiguity.

17-alpha-Hydroxyprogesterone↗

Three years of GH treatment in Turner's syndrome: complex effect of GH dosage on growth parameters. French Pediatric Clinics and Sanofi-Winthrop.

OBJECTIVE: There have been few studies of GH dose responses in Turner's syndrome. We have therefore compared the growth effect of two doses of subcutaneous GH: 0.45 (D1) or 0.90 (D2) IU/kg/week. DESIGN: Multicentre study with two parallel randomized groups treated with D1 or D2 dose for one year, then with D2 for the second and third years in both groups. PATIENTS: Ninety-seven girls with Turner's syndrome aged from 4.8 to 16.5 years. RESULTS: The first mean height velocity (HV) was significantly higher with D2. At one year the girls changed from D1 to D2 showed a further acceleration in HV. During second and third years HV remained above the mean for untreated Turner girls, in both groups. Mean cumulative height gains over the 3 years were 1.06 and 1.17 SDS/CA (Ranke's Turner standard) in groups G1 and G2 respectively. Bone maturation, over 36 months, was 33.7 (G1) and 31.9 (G2) months. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that, if a higher initial GH dose is associated with a greater net initial height gain, the duration of treatment might affect the long-term results. Intermittent treatment should be considered.

Adolescent↗

Growth hormone treatment of short children born small for gestational age: metanalysis of four independent, randomized, controlled, multicentre studies.

A minority of children born small for gestational age (SGA) fail to achieve sufficient catch-up growth during infancy and remain short throughout childhood, apparently without being growth hormone (GH) deficient. The effect of GH administration was evaluated over 2 years in short prepubertal children born SGA. The children (n = 244), who were taking part in four independent multicentre studies, had been randomly allocated to groups receiving either no treatment or GH treatment at a daily dose of 0.1, 0.2 or 0.3 IU/kg (0.033, 0.067 or 0.1 mg/kg) s.c. At birth, their mean length SD score (SDS) was -3.6 and their mean weight SDS -2.6; at the start of the study, mean age was 5.2 years, bone age 3.8 years, height SDS -3.3, height SDS adjusted for parental height -2.4, weight SDS -4.7 and body mass index (BMI) SDS -1.4. The untreated children had a low-normal growth velocity and poor weight gain. Although bone maturation progressed more slowly than chronological age, final height prognosis tended to decrease, according to height SDS for bone age, GH treatment induced a dose-dependent effect on growth, up to a near doubling of height velocity and weight gain; BMI SDS was not altered. Bone maturation was also accelerated differentially; however, final height prognosis increased in all GH treatment groups. The more pronounced growth responses were observed in younger children with a lower height and weight SDS. In conclusion, GH administration is a promising therapy for normalizing short stature and low weight after insufficient catch-up growth in children born SGA. Long-term strategies incorporating GH therapy now remain to be established.

Age Determination by Skeleton↗

Spontaneous growth in idiopathic short stature. European Study Group.

Documenting the spontaneous growth pattern of children with idiopathic short stature (ISS) should be helpful in evaluating the effects of growth promoting treatments. Growth curves for children with ISS were constructed, based on 229 untreated children (145 boys and 84 girls) from nine European countries. The children were subdivided according to target range and onset of puberty, and the growth of these subgroups was evaluated from standard deviation scores (SDS). At birth, children with ISS were already shorter than normal (means; boys -0.8 SDS, girls -1.3 SDS). Height slowly decreased from -1.7 SDS at the age of 2 years to -2.7 SDS at the age of 16 years in boys and 13 years in girls. Final height was -1.5 SDS in boys and -1.6 SDS in girls (mean (SD): boys 164.8 (6.1) cm, girls 152.7 (5.3) cm)), which was 5-6 cm below their target height. The onset of puberty was delayed (boys 13.8 (1.3) years, girls 12.9 (1.1) years). Subclassification resulted in similar growth curves. These specific growth data may be more suitable for evaluating the effects of growth promoting treatments than population based references.

Adolescent↗

Diagnostic strategies in pediatric imaging.

Magnetic resonance imaging is the modality of choice to visualize the pituitary gland. In pituitary dwarfism with growth hormone deficiency, neuroimaging can be normal or can disclose abnormalities: (1) Tumors, mainly craniopharyngiomas. These benign tumors vary greatly in size and composition (calcifications, a cystic component in approximatively 80% of cases, typically with high signal intensity on T1-weighted images). (2) Classical midline malformations such as septo-optic dysplasia or corpus callosum agenesis. (3) Recently described minor malformations: pituitary hypoplasia, pituitary stalk aplasia, and translocation of the pituitary bright spot to the median eminence called an "ectopic' posterior lobe. All these malformations can be isolated or associated. (4) Pituitary adenomas (prolactinomas), which are not frequent in children.

Child↗

Follow-up of three years of treatment with growth hormone and of one post-treatment year, in children with severe growth retardation of intrauterine onset.

Seventy-eight prepubertal, non-GH-deficient children aged 8.1 +/- 0.2 y, with very short stature (mean, -3.2 SD) of intrauterine onset, were treated for 3 y with GH [0.4 (dose D1) or 1.2 (dose D2) IU/kg/wk] and 66 were followed during a 4th y without GH therapy. A 2-y intermediary report had demonstrated a GH dose-dependent acceleration of growth. During the 3rd y on GH, patients D2 (1.2 IU/kg/wk) continued with the same dose, whereas patients D1 (0.4 IU/kg/wk) were randomized to either continue on D1 (group D1) or be increased to D2 (group D1D2). After 3 y on GH, patients' mean height (SD) reached -2.37 (D1), -2.17 (D1D2), and -1.58 (D2) with a total mean height gain of 0.77 (D1), 0.93 (D1D2) (difference NS), and 1.61 SD (D2 significantly higher than D1 and D1D2, p < or = 0.0001). During the off-treatment year, mean growth rate (cm/y) decreased to 3.4 in patients D1, 3.7 in D1D2, and 4.1 in D2 (NS). During the 4 y, bone age advanced of 4.6, 4.6, and 5.3 y in D1, D1D2, and D2, respectively, and puberty started in 34 patients (10 during the off-treatment year). Age at onset of puberty, apparently within normal range, did not relate either to the dose or the duration of treatment. Clinical and biologic tolerance of treatment was good. In conclusion this study demonstrates a GH dose-dependent effect on growth acceleration in persistent postnatal severe growth retardation of intrauterine onset. This effect was sustained for 3 y at 1.2 IU/kg/wk followed by a peculiar growth deceleration at treatment discontinuation. Additional studies are necessary to optimize long-term GH treatment regimen and to document its effects on final height.

Body Height↗

Different phenotypes in a family with androgen insensitivity caused by the same M780I point mutation in the androgen receptor gene.

Mutations in the coding sequence of the androgen receptor (AR) gene result in a wild range of androgen insensitivity (AI) syndromes. Differences in the clinical expression of the same mutation in unrelated patients have been reported. However, this study reports for the first time strikingly different phenotypes among three patients within the same kindred. Two of the patients had a feminine phenotype, suggesting complete AI, but for some pubic hair. The third subject was male with partial AI, perineoscrotal hypospadias, and cryptorchidism. 5 alpha-reductase activity measured in genital skin fibroblasts and binding capacity of the AR were higher in the male than in the two patients with female phenotype. Northern blot analysis of AR messenger RNA revealed a 10-kb band of normal intensity in the three subjects. Molecular analysis of the coding sequence of the AR revealed a unique M780I mutation in exon 6, changing a methionine 780 to isoleucine in the hormone-binding domain. In conclusion, the same mutation of the AR gene in the same family can result in clinical phenotypes characteristic of complete or partial AI. Therefore, the molecular defect of the AR gene may not alone predict the phenotype in families with AI.

Androgens↗