Methandrostenolone Therapy in Children with Growth Retardation

THE RECENT AVAILABILITY of several synthetic anabolic agents with reported relative decrease of androgenic effect has aroused interest in the possible usefulness of these compounds as growth stimulants in children with short stature. Several reports of investigations of such drugs for this purpose have appeared during the last 2 years. 1-4 These have included trials of fluoxymesterone, 1, 2 nandrolone phenpropionate, 3 and methandrostenolone. 3,4 Only in the report of Reilly and Gordan 1 has there been described a relatively greater gain in stature than in skeletal maturation. The present communication presents data from study of an additional 14 children with growth retardation treated for varying periods with methandrostenolone. Materials and Methods The children in the present study ranged in age from 2 years 3 months to 13 years. There were six females, seven males, and one patient with gonadal dysgenesis. All were prepuberal and were under care of one