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Undersize children being treated with injections of growth hormone have raised intraocular pressure, according to latest research.

A study from Tel Aviv University published in this month's Pediatrics Journal reported on the IOP of 55 children who had been getting growth hormone treatment for 31 months on average. They compared those with 24 children with similar conditions who had not been treated.

The children in the treatment group, aged around 11 years on average, were of small stature but not hormone deficient so the hormone dose was higher than that used in deficient children, though still within the standard dose range. Eye pressure in the treated kids averaged 16mm Hg compared to 13mm Hg in the untreated group.

Higher doses and longer treatment periods were linked to greater pressure.