Comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular disease risk in children with short stature due to isolated growth hormone deficiency: a case-control study

Objectives Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in adults is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Although children with GHD are also believed to have a similar cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk beginning at an early age, the available data in children is scarce. We aimed to determine the various CVD risk parameters in children with isolated GHD (IGHD). Methods A cross-sectional case-control study was conducted at a tertiary care centre in North India comparing various auxological, biochemical, and echocardiographic parameters between 20 IGHD children aged 5–15 years and their age and sex-matched healthy controls. Results The mean age of children with IGHD and controls was similar (10.5 ± 2.6 yr vs. 9.9 ± 2.7 yr, p=0.48). Children with IGHD had significantly higher waist-hip-ratio (p=0.01), total cholesterol (p=0.02), non-high-density lipoprotein–cholesterol (p=0.02), serum homocysteine (p Conclusions Children with IGHD showed abnormalities in several biochemical and cardiac parameters that may be associated with an increased CVD risk in later life. More extensive studies, including younger children with IGHD, are needed to determine the lower ages at which the CVD risk is detectable.