Abstract: Objective To investigate the causes, clinical features and therapeutic effects of childhood-onset adult growth hormone deficiency (Co-AGHD). Methods Clinical data of 42 Co-AGHD patients (36 males and 6 females) treated in Nanism Clinic of Endocrinology Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital during July 2012 and Dec. 2014 were retrospectively analyzed, including etiology, clinical features and therapeutic responses. According to whether they received recombinant human growth hormone(rhGH) therapy, the patients were divided into treatment group (n=12) and control group (n=30). The therapeutic effects were assessed. Results Among the 42 patients, the proportion of male was much higher than that of female. Congenital Co-AGHD was found in 39 cases: 20 with pituitary hypoplasia, 3 with empty sella syndrome, 1 with partially empty sella and the others with undefined causes. Acquired Co-AGHD was found in 3 cases which was induced by craniopharyngioma surgery. There was no significant difference between rhGH treatment group and control group in indexes of lipid and glucose (P>0.05). Conclusions Congenital etiology is the major cause of Co-AGHD, especially pituitary hypoplasia and empty sella syndrome. AGHD is linked to dyslipidemia, obesity and other metabolic diseases. Further studies and are needed to investigate the effects of rhGH replacement therapy on improvement of liver and lipid metabolism.

Key words: Adult growth hormone deficiency, Pituitary hypoplasia, Recombination human growth hormone, Replacement therapy, Metabolic index