Steroid therapy for allergic rhinitis doesn't slow growth in kids

Children with persistent stuffy nose due to allergy, or "allergic rhinitis," who receive intranasal treatment with the steroid triamcinolone acetonide for one year do not appear to have slower than normal rates of growth, researchers reported here this week at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. However, they say, longer follow-up is needed to completely rule out an effect on adult height.

"In the 1990s, nasally inhaled steroids became the recommended first-line treatment for allergic rhinitis," lead author Dr. David P. Skoner, from Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, told AMN Health.

Still, concerns have been raised that such drugs may slow growth and suppress the function of certain growth-related hormones, he added.

"About two years ago, a study came out indicating that long-term use of steroid inhalers for asthma does not affect adult height," Skoner said. "Similar studies involving nasally inhaled steroids for allergic rhinitis, however, have never been done."

Skoner's study involved 24 children, between 6 and 14 years of age, who were receiving intranasal triamcinolone acetonide as a treatment for allergic rhinitis. Over one year of follow-up, none of the subjects deviated from their expected age-appropriate growth level.

For children younger than 12 years of age, the average growth rates for girls and boys were 5.6 and 5.8 cm per year, respectively. The corresponding growth rates for older subjects were 5.5 and 7.7 cm per year.

There was also no evidence that intranasal triamcinolone acetonide suppressed growth-related hormone levels. Average bone mineral density was also within normal limits.

"So far, the findings are reassuring," Skoner concluded. "But we plan on following these children until they stop growing."