TREATMENT OF CENTRAL PRECOCIOUS PUBERTY WITH DEPOT LEUPRORELIN

We evaluated the pituitary and gonadal suppression in 40 girls and nin e boys treated with depot leuprorelin (3.75 mg sc if body weight great er than or equal to 20 kg, 1.87 mg if body weight <20 kg) every 28 day s for central precocious puberty. Gonadal suppression was obtained in most of the children with this dose: 3 months after initiation of the treatment, 85% of children had a peak plasma luteinizing hormone respo nse to gonadotropin-releasing hormone <3 IU/I and the gonadal axis rem ained suppressed throughout the duration of the study (up to 24 months ). Four patients required higher doses of leuprorelin to achieve suppr ession, In two girls, a cutaneous reaction to the drug was associated with incomplete suppression and the treatment had to be interrupted. P lasma leuprorelin levels tended to increase from day 3 to day 28 after injection. Residual leuprorelin levels measured 28 days after injecti on were stable during the first year of the study. We conclude that an initial dose of depot leuprorelin of 3.75 mg sc every 28 days is effi cient in most children with central precocious puberty.