Background: Preterm infants with very low birth weight frequently exhibit impaired longitudinal growth during the first years of life. Recently, the d3-isoform (genomic deletion of exon 3) of the growth hormone receptor (GHR) has been linked to an increased responsiveness to growth hormone (GH).

Objective: To test whether the GHRd3 isoform is associated with postnatal catch-up growth in very low birth weight preterm infants.

Design and Patients: We compared the postnatal growth pattern of 77 otherwise healthy preterm infants (mean gestational age 28.5 weeks, range 23–35 weeks) with a birth weight below 1500 g (mean birth weight 941 g) to their GHR exon 3 genotype, which was analyzed by multiplex PCR. On examination, mean age of the children was 6.0 years (range 4.2–8.0 years).

Results: Children homozygous or heterozygous for the GHRd3-allele showed a significant higher rate of postnatal catch-up, compared to those homozygous for the full-length allele.

Conclusions: Our results define the GHR exon 3 genotype as a predictor for the postnatal growth pattern of very low birth weight preterm infants. Those who carry at least one GHRd3 allele are more likely to catch-up.