Biomedical subjects

B Stasiowska

Publications and source records attributed to B Stasiowska.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Is TW3 height prediction more accurate than TW2? Preliminary data.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Skeletal maturation is considered a reliable variable in evaluating the 'tempo' of growth. It is important in the diagnosis of endocrinological diseases, in chronic diseases, in hormonal therapy follow-up and in computing height prediction for prognostic and therapeutic purposes. It is also used when chronological age is not available for minors without known birth dates. There are different methods to evaluate skeletal maturation and height prediction. The Tanner-Whitehouse (TW) method 2 (TW2) has been considered to be the most useful method so far, and has recently been updated with modified height prediction equations (TW2-Mark II). TW3 is the newest method. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether TW3 is more accurate in the assessment of height prediction than TW2-Mark II in a sample of healthy north Italian subjects. METHODS: Anthropometrical data were collected as part of a survey in 1977-1978 in Turin. The sample involved 1,384 healthy children. The children, now adults, have been traced and recalled to measure their final height in order to test height prediction reliability. At present, we have collected 118 adult heights. RESULTS: According to the TW2 method 40% of the males had a height prediction error larger than +/- residual SD (4.1 cm), and with TW3 this was 32.9%. The female height prediction error with TW2 was larger than +/- residual SD (3.6 cm) in 29.2% of girls, and the same value was found with TW3. CONCLUSION: According to our preliminary data, TW3 does not represent any real progress.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Is the persistence of isolated GH deficiency in adulthood predicted by anatomical hypothalamic-pituitary alterations?

The aim of this study was to verify the persistence in adulthood of GH deficiency diagnosed in childhood and treated with hGH in childhood and to study whether anatomical hypothalamic-pituitary alterations evaluated by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging could predict it. To this goal, in six GHD adults (3 males and 3 females aged 17.2-24.5 yr, BMI 21.8 +/- 1.3), we studied anterior pituitary hormone response to GHRH (1 microgram/kg iv)+pyridostigmine (120 mg po)+ GnRH (100 micrograms iv) +TRH (400 micrograms iv)+hCRH (100 micrograms iv) as well as brain MR imaging. In childhood, the diagnosis of severe isolated GHD had been done based on auxological findings as well as on GH response < 7 micrograms/L after two classical provocative stimuli. In the present study, hormonal responses showed the persistence of severe isolated GHD in 4 out of 6 patients (peak, mean +/- SEM: 3.8 +/- 0.6, range 2.6-4.8 micrograms/L). In these patients, IGF-I levels were found low or low-normal. In other 2 patients, a clear GH response to stimulation (peak: 51.3 and 43.0 micrograms/L, respectively) together with normal IGF-I levels were found. No other anterior pituitary hormone deficiency was present in all subjects. MR imaging showed pituitary hypoplasia in all patients with persistent GHD; in 2 out of them, pituitary stalk interruption and ectopic neurohypophysis was also present. On the other hand, MR imaging showed normal hypothalamo-pituitary morphology in the 2 subjects with normal somatotrope response. In conclusion, our present data indicate that testing with a potent stimulus such as GHRH+pyridostigmine is a reliable method to assess the persistence of GH deficiency which associates with anatomical hypothalamic-pituitary alterations at the MR imaging. Patients with transient GH deficiency in childhood and normal pituitary GH reserve in adulthood have normal hypothalamic-pituitary MR imaging.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Final height in sexually precocious girls after therapy with an intranasal analogue of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (buserelin).

Twenty-two girls affected by sexual precocity with impaired final height prognosis were followed until they achieved final height. Twelve of them were treated with an intranasal (D-Ser6)-gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue (buserelin) administered at a mean dose of 25 micrograms/kg/day (range 20-32) for a mean period of 14 months (range 8-18). Ten girls refused treatment. Mean final height of the treated girls was 157.3 +/- 8.2 cm, significantly (p = 0.03) higher than the 149.7 +/- 5.5 cm of untreated patients. Treated girls surpassed midparental height (+1.7 cm) while untreated girls reached the lower part of target zone (-3.5 cm). Our data suggest that intranasal buserelin treatment preserves final height in girls with sexual precocity and initially impaired height prognosis.

Administration, Intranasal↗

PubMed1991