Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: We wanted to assess whether our report of better adherence to GH therapy using jet (ZomaJet) rather than needle delivery in a large nationwide cohort, translated into better growth outcomes.

Aims and hypothesis: To retrospectively audit growth markers in our local split-site (GOSH/UCLH) cohort of children, starting GH using Zomajet between 01.01.2010 and 31.12.2012, for whom we had previous adherence (PDC) scores.

Methods: Of 75 local patients identified from the national cohort, 55 met the eligibility criteria for indication (GHD) and age (<16 years). Patients with PDC score >0.8 were considered adherent. Age and sex-SDS for height (HTSDS), IGF1 (IGF1SDS), and height velocity (HVSDS) were compared between and within adherent (n 33) and non-adherent (n 22) groups after 1 year and at end of assessment period with nonparametric statistics. Data is presented as median and range.

Results: There were no significant intergroup differences in baseline age, height, IGF1, mid-parental height (MPH) SDS, GH starting dose or duration. Eight patients in adherent and one patient in non-adherent groups switched to needle devices. Increments in HTSDS, HVSDS, and IGF1SDS at 1 year and end observation were similar between groups (P>0.05) with significant comparable gains in nine patients (six adherent) achieving adult HTSDS close to individual target MPHSDS (P<0.05). Significant longitudinal intragroup improvements occurred for adherent patients in HTSDS (n 27), IGF1SDS (n 14), and HVSDS (n 19) (P<0.05; see Table 1), but not for non-adherent patients (P>0.05).

Conclusion: Improved adherence with Zomajet may translate into better height outcomes. This hypothesis will be explored in a larger local dataset comparing jet with needle devices.