Cerebrovascular Abnormalities in Adults Born SGA at 12 Years After Growth Hormone Cessation Compared to Controls

Abstract

Context: Increased cerebrovascular morbidity was reported in adults born small for gestational age (SGA) who were treated with growth hormone (GH) during childhood compared to the general population. However, previous studies did not have an appropriate control group, which is a major limitation.

Objective: To study cerebrovascular abnormalities (aneurysms, previous intracerebral hemorrhages and microbleeds) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in adults born SGA at 12 years after cessation of childhood GH treatment (SGA-GH) compared to appropriate controls.

Methods: In this single-center, prospective study, brain MRIs were performed between May 2016 and December 2020 on a 3T MRI system. MRI images were scored by 2 neuroradiologists who were blinded to patient groupings. Participants included adults born SGA previously treated with GH and 3 untreated control groups: adults born SGA with persistent short stature (SGA-S), adults born SGA with spontaneous catch-up growth to a normal height (SGA-CU) and adults born appropriate for gestational age with a normal height (AGA). The intervention was long-term GH treatment during childhood and the main outcome measure was cerebrovascular abnormalities.

Results: A total of 301 adults were investigated. Aneurysms were found in 6 adults: 3 (3.6%) SGA-GH, 1 (2.9%) SGA-S and 2 (2.2%) AGA adults, without differences between SGA-GH adults and the controls. Previous intracerebral hemorrhages were only found in 2 SGA-S adults (4.8%). Microbleeds were found in 17 adults: 4 (4.3%) SGA-GH, 4 (9.5%) SGA-S, 3 (4.3%) SGA-CU and 6 (6.3%) AGA adults, without differences between SGA-GH adults and the controls.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that SGA-GH adults at 12 years after GH cessation have no increased prevalence of cerebrovascular abnormalities compared to appropriate controls. Further research is needed to confirm our findings.

Keywords: cerebral aneurysms; cerebral microbleeds; cerebral vascular abnormalities; growth hormone treatment; previous intracerebral hemorrhage; small for gestational age.