THE EFFECT OF ESTROGEN-TREATMENT ON BODY PROPORTIONS IN CONSTITUTIONALLY TALL GIRLS

Body proportions were studied in 31 girls with constitutional tall sta ture during treatment with 200 mug ethinyl oestradiol per day continuo usly, combined with 5-10 mg medroxyprogesterone on the first 10 days o f each month. Their mean (+/- SD) predicted adult height was 186.0 (+/ - 4.0) cm. At the start of therapy, leg length (LL) standard deviation score (SDS) (3.8 +/- 0.7) was significantly greater than the sitting height (SH) SDS (2.3 +/- 1.1). During therapy, the mean sitting height increased by 2.9 cm, in contrast to an increment of only 0.8 cm for L L. The SDS of the ratio between SH and LL remained below zero. The exp ected gain without therapy, assuming a stable SDS position over time, was 5.4 cm for SH and 4.4 cm for LL, significantly more than the obser ved gains. In conclusion, tall girls have relatively long legs. Oestro gen therapy leads to an almost complete stop of leg growth, while the growth of the trunk is reduced to a lesser extent. This selective inhi bition results in a trunk/leg ratio which is closer to, though still s ignificantly different from that of normal girls.