Growth and Sexual Development in Lowe Syndrome
Puberty may be delayed in onset; otherwise, male secondary sexual development is normal.
Undescended testes (cryptorchidism) are noted in approximately one third of affected boys.
At birth, individuals with Lowe syndrome are usually an average length. But, by their first birthdays they are below the 10th percentile in height. They do continue to grow, but slowly, and generally reach an adult height of 150cm (5 feet). Growth failure may be related to poor treatment of renal Fanconi syndrome or advanced renal failure. In general, the production of growth hormone is normal in Lowe patients. If patients are treated with growth hormone, growth assessment every three months is indicated. However, as a rule, growth hormone will not normalise final height. A study by Bökenkamp and colleagues (2016) found that Lowe patients treated with growth hormone did have an improvement in height, but this was of less than one standard deviation.