The effect of corrective surgery in children with congenital heart disease on serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3 levels and growth.

Growth failure in children with congenital heart disease is a well recognized phenomenon. Recently, the hormonal effects are being investigated. Insulin like growth factors (IGF-1 and 2) are growth hormone dependent peptide which plays an important role in tissue growth and differentiation. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) represents the major IGF-1 binding protein in serum and acts to maintain a circulating store of IGF-1. IGF-1 is a sensitive determinant of nutrition. In this study, we aimed to evaluate growth monitoring, IGF-1, IGFBP-3 levels in children with congenital heart disease before and one year period after the corrective surgery and to determine if these parameters have any relationship to the type of congenital heart disease, cyanosis, and nutritional status. Also these serum levels compared with healthy controls. This prospective study which conducted in 40 patients with congenital heart disease (14 girls and 26 boys, aged 8.616.15 (0.1-22) months, 20 cyanotic and 20 acyanotic) and 32 healthy children (11 girls and 21 boys). We also categorised two grups into four subgrups according to pulmonary hypertension presence. Before the surgery weight, height, and head circumference percentile were <3 in 50 %, 15 %, 25 % of the study group, respectively. Acyanotic patients presented significantly more growth failure and malnutrition prevalence. Also, growth failure and malnutrition were prominent in the patients with pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension was effective on the improvement of malnutrition after surgery. No correlation was detected between IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels and pulmonary hypertension or hypoxia. Serum IGF-1 levels before surgery were similar between three groups. Serum IGFBP-3 levels were significantly higher in control group than the acyanotic and cyanotic groups. Three months after surgery malnutrition prevalence, serum levels of IGF-1, IGFBP-3 were smilar between acyanotic and cyanotic groups. One year after surgery, degrees of malnutrition were not different between two groups. But height sds was lower in acyanotic group (p<0,05). The progress of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels in a year demonstrated that the values in the third month and first year were higher than the preoperative values (p<0,05). This increasing pattern was parellel with growth acceleration. The parellel increase of weight gain and IGF-1, IGFBP-3 levels were the best evidence of that these parameters are good nutritional indicators. However, we suggest that IGF-1, IGFBP-3 levels may be more useful for academic purposes. Still, antropometric measurements are cheaper, more practical and non-invasive methods for the evaluation of nutrition. We believe that in the future growth hormone therapy for the children with congenital heart disease will be more important in the light of IGF-1.