Longitudinal growth following treatment for osteosarcoma.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to analyse the height at diagnosis and growth in 72 skeletally immature children who had been treated for osteosarcoma in the area of the knee.Subjects. Of the patients, the average age at diagnosis was 10 years in girls and 12 years in boys. All children received neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, and had limb salvage by endoprosthetic replacement.Results and conclusion. The results of this study indicate that there is no evidence that children with osteosarcoma are taller at diagnosis than their normal counterparts. However, there was a marked retardation in growth in the year following the administration of cytotoxic chemotherapy. There were 19 children who reached skeletal maturity. The final height in these children was not significantly different from the normal population.