ABSTRACT
Human growth hormone (hGH) was first administered intramuscularly to a hypopituitary patient in 1958 (Raben, 1958). In the early 1960s, small numbers of patients were treated with hGH, which was extracted from human cadaveric pituitary glands that were collected and subjected to extraction procedures at a variety of institutions around the world. Because of uncertain supply, concern about misuse and abuse, and in an attempt to supply hGH to needy patients, the National Pituitary Agency was formed in Baltimore, MD. This agency subsequently became the major source of hGH for the treatment of GH deficient patients in this country. Because of limited collection of pituitaries and incomplete extraction, the availability of hGH was restricted. Thus, often only the most severely GH deficient children were treated. Treatment was often late in childhood; the dose was limited; and treatment often was interrupted. Increased pituitary collection rates and improved yield from extraction procedures have resulted in improved treatment opportunities for GH deficient children (Burns, Tanner, Preece, & Cameron, 1981). In the 1960s and early 1970s, restricted hGH supplies resulted in the exclusion of boys from treatment once they reached 5'4", and girls who had reached 5'. More recently GH supplies have permitted earlier treatment at higher doses, usually without interruption and for a longer period of time, so that hGH-treated children are now achieving more normal adult stature. Even so, we have recently been faced with serious interruptions in the supply of pituitary GH, primarily because of a declining number of autopsies in this country.
