Two-year recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) treatment is more effective in pre-pubertal compared to pubertal short children with X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets (XLHR).

•rhGH increases growth velocity and stature in short XLHR patients•rhGH-induced cumulative increase in stature was + 1.3 SDS in the pre-pubertal group and + 0.7 SDS in the pubertal children•absolute height gain over the 2year treatment period in pre-pubertal patients is 6.4cm and 3cm in the pubertal patients