Growth and pubertal development in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 11-beta-hydroxylase deficiency.

To evaluate growth and pubertal development in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 11-beta-hydroxylase deficiency, data were collected retrospectively from the charts of 24 patients, 15 girls and nine boys. Growth before diagnosis was characterized by a rapid acceleration in the second half of the first year of life, with rapid advancement of bone age. Final height was severely compromised in all the patients, regardless of age at diagnosis and quality of therapeutic control. Onset of puberty was precocious in male patients and normal in female patients. In this respect, treatment with hydrocortisone acetate proved to be superior to cortisone acetate or prednisone.