Accutane's Effect Upon Skull Size

My nephew is 16 years old and is losing the battle to acne. My sister is contemplating putting him on Accutane. I have read in several places, including Roche's listed side effects, that Accutane can stunt the bone growth of the "long" bones by affecting the growth plates. I have, however read nothing pertaining to Accutane's effect upon the growth plates in other bones of the body (non "long" bones). My nephew is already 6' 1" tall, so Accutane's effect upon his "long" bones is not a concern.

*I am, however, very concerned about Accutane's effect upon my newphew's skull development, including his facial bone development. A male's skull and facial bones can develop up through the early 20s. Can my nephew's use of Accutane compromise the growth of his skull if taken during his formative adolescent years? Can his skull development along the Coronal and Squamosal sutures be reduced or frozen? Finally, in your practice, have you seen continued skull development in adolescents during and 'post' Accutane therapy? Indeed, the horrific effects of Accutane in vitro have shown that it often leads to microcephaly, but, of course, in vitro is a very different situation.

Thank you very much,

Very Concerned Uncle

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

I have not seen any effects of Accutane on any bones, long or otherwise.  The effect even on long bones is not clear, since some of the changes possibly ascribed to Accutane may be seen in normal adolescents.  I am not familiar with any problems with skull growth.

Accutane has a long record of efficacy and safety dating back 25+ years.  If your nephew needs it, I wouldn't hesitate to encourage him to use it.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[scottie27]

Hello,

I am currently 27 years old and took accutane when I was around the age of 14 or 15 for seven months.  A normal dosage...nothing extreme.  I do not remember my dermatologist at the time being concerned with stunted growth or hearing of anything at the time about this drug along the lines of stunted growth.  However, I now read the new lables and hear some of these "reports" and am wondering what to think.  I went back and checked my growth records and it looks like I did not grow that much after taking it if at all.  I went to my internist recently and had him measure me.  I'm in at 5'7" and three quarters or such.  Now my dad is about 5'8" to 5'8" and a half and my bro is about 5'6" and mother is 5'3".  So no giants in the family and the ancestors were not greatly tall.  I'd say a spattering of short and mediums and some talls in my family.  What if anything have you heard about this drug in relation to stunted growth?  Is there concrete evidence of any kind out there?  Any kind of studies?  I mean the mere fact that I have not heard of any law suits regarding accutane and stunted growth would lead me to believe that this is not a problem.  Can one course of a seven month treatment do this or would it have to be more?  Dose dosage and length and breadth of time not even play into it here?  What do you know about this Doc?  I mean this drug has been around for almost three decades now.  Where can I go to find out concrete evidence on this.  My dermatologist swears that it did not stunt my growth but I still have this wondering going on in my head because of the reportings on it.  Can you help here with some info?

[cindy416]

A related discussion, accutane was started.