Growth Hormone Studies Before and During Catch-up Growth in a Child with Emotional Deprivation and Short Stature

Abstract

Growth hormone response to arginine, insulin hypoglycemia and sleep was studied during separate hospitalizations in a child with emotional deprivation and short stature. During both study periods growth hormone response to arginine and hypoglycemia was low on admission to the hospital and high after 6 weeks. There was no growth hormone response to slow wave sleep in the first sleep cycle at the time of the second hospital admission but the response to sleep was normal after 6 weeks of hospitalization. These studies suggest a temporal correlation between catch-up growth and growth hormone output. The normal sleep pattern suggests that the lack of growth hormone output seen in emotional deprivation and short stature is not related to disturbed sleep.