DIVERSITY OF PUBERTAL TESTOSTERONE CHANGES IN BOYS WITH CONSTITUTIONAL DELAY IN GROWTH AND OR ADOLESCENCE/

In a group of 22 boys with constitutional delay in growth and/or adole scence, intermittent testosterone enanthate treatment was employed in a randomized clinical trial at multiple doses ranging from 25-100 mg e very two weeks for three month periods extending over 15-21 Twelve of the patients displayed a increase in endogenous testosterone levels du ring the study period, reaching levels in the adult male range (>250 n g/dl). The remaining 10 boys showed sluggish changes in endogenous tes tosterone during the investigation, ranging from 35-177 ng/dl. The bon e ages and testicular sizes of the two groups at study initiation did not differ though urine LH was significantly less at study entry in th e slowly maturing group. The data reveal a great diversity in the pace and pattern of endogenous testosterone changes in the study populatio n. The results also suggest that exogenous sex steroid treatment of su ch patients does not speed up the central nervous system processes con trolling the onset and progression of puberty. Boys with delayed puber ty should be followed until endogenous testosterone levels reach the a dult male range in order to rule out mild gonadotropin deficits.