Relative usefulness of three growth hormone stimulation screening tests
B. Fass, B. M. Lippe and S. A. Kaplan
One hundred ninety-one children were tested by one of three screening
procedures for growth hormone deficiency over a five-year period. Sleep
screen yielded a 31.3% false-positive rate; levodopa administration alone
yielded a 20.5% false-positive rate and levodopa in combination with
propranolol yielded a 5.2% false-positive rate. These results support the
view that the combined levodopa-propranolol hydrochloride screen test is
superior to either the sleep or the levodopa screen tests in limiting the
number of false-positive results and thus the need for further, more
extensive testing.
