Predicting adult height in Turner syndrome

Abstract

Like Wasniewska et al. (1) we also have an interest in the effect of growth hormone (GH) on growth and final adult height in Turner syndrome. Predicting final adult height in any individual is far from an exact science, but we believe that Wasniewska’s calculations are flawed; first due to the inappropriate use of height standard deviation scores (SDS), and secondly due to the fact that the girls in their study, after their initial measurement, were being treated with GH. Wasniewska et al. calculated height SDS in their patients using the data of Sempe et al. 1979 (2). These data, as stated by Wasniewska and colleagues, are from ‘normal girls’. This SDS is then used in the equation published by Lyon et al. (3) to derive a predicted adult SDS, which is then converted back into a height via reference to the data of Sempe et al. (2). The important point to note is that the Lyon equation is based on SDS calculated using data derived from children with Turner syndrome.