Endothelial function, carotid artery intima-media thickness, epicardial adipose tissue, and left ventricular mass and function in growth hormone-deficient adolescents: apparent effects of growth hormone treatment on these parameters.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether GH-deficient (GHD) adolescents have abnormalities of cardiac and vascular function detectable during the teenage years.

Design/methods: Ten GHD children on GH treatment with a chronological age (CA) of 14.6 +/- 1.7 yr and 12 untreated GHD adolescents with a CA of 15.0 +/- 3.0 yr were studied. Cardiac mass and function, carotid artery intima-media thickness, flow-mediated endothelium-dependent vasodilation (percent change from baseline diameter during hyperemia), and hyperemia-induced blood flow increase of the brachial artery (percent change from baseline) and epicardial adipose tissue were evaluated by echocardiography. Fourteen healthy adolescents served as controls.

Results: Untreated GHD adolescents present with a reduced left ventricular mass when compared with controls (P < 0.05) and a lower flow-mediated endothelium-dependent increase in the diameter of the brachial artery during hyperemia than both controls and treated GHD subjects (P < 0.02), whereas their epicardial adipose tissue is significantly higher than that of healthy controls (P < 0.02). Interventricular septum thickness, posterior wall thickness, left ventricular ejection fraction, and carotid artery intima-media thickness were similar in all three groups. Hyperemia-induced blood flow increase was greater in treated GHD adolescents than both untreated subjects and controls (P < 0.001). Body mass index correlated positively with epicardial adipose tissue in all three groups and with carotid intima-media thickness in treated and untreated GHD adolescents.

Conclusions: GHD adolescents have a reduced left ventricular mass and vascular abnormalities manifested by lower flow-mediated endothelium-dependent vasodilation. These findings together with an increase in epicardial adipose tissue, a good indicator of abdominal/visceral fat, may contribute to an increased cardiovascular risk in the long term. An improvement in endothelial function and a reduction in arterial stiffness appear to occur after GH replacement.