Two-year results of treatment with depot leuprolide acetate for central precocious puberty

We report results from 2 years of therapy with the long-acting form of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analog leuprolide acetate, which was previously reported in short-term trials to be efficacious in the treatment of central precocious puberty. Thirteen giris and two boys, aged 1.9 to 9.7 years, who satisfied clinical criteria including GnRH-stimulated luteinizing hormone (LH) >10 IU/L (mean radioimmunoassay LH, 29.1±5.54 IU/L), received depot leuprolide, 6 to 15 mg intramuscularly every 4 weeks. Estradiol (or testosterone), insulin-like growth factor I, and GnRH-stimulated gonadotropins were obtained at baseline, at 2 months, and at 6-month intervals with bone age determinations. Pubertal progression ceased in all patients, and menses did not occur. Mean increase in height during therapy was 5.77±2.0 cm/yr. Predicted adult height increased over baseline by 5.52±1.16 cm at 18 months. Mean estradiol values in the girls declined from 3.3±0.6 to 0.60±0.03 ng/dl, with no overlap of baseline and treatment values. The mean basal LH value was unchanged by therapy; mean basal and peak LH values for all follow-up GnRH stimulation tests were 4.05±0.57 and 4.95±0.70 IU/L, respectively. Basal and peak follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) values were suppressed from 4.10±0.62 and 10.06±1.34 IU/L, respectively, to generally undetectable levels (