Efficacy of letrozole in treatment of male adolescents with idiopathic short stature

• Published in: Zhejiang da xue xue bao. Journal of Zhejiang University. Medical sciences. Yi xue ban Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 308 - 314
• Main Authors: Li, Yanhong, Du, Minlian, Ma, Huamei, Chen, Qiuli, Chen, Hongshan, Zhang, Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: China 25.05.2020
• Subjects: Adolescent; Body Height; Bone Development; Child; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone; Growth Disorders; Humans; Letrozole - therapeutic use; Male
• ISSN: 1008-9292
• DOI: 10.3785/j.issn.1008-9292.2020.04.05

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of aromatase inhibitor letrozole in treatment of male adolescents with idiopathic short stature (ISS). Seventy five boys with height less than 2 standard deviation (SD) below the mean who had entered puberty were enrolled in our study from 2004 to 2017, in the Pediatric Department of the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University. Among 75 patients, 28 in letrozole group received letrozole and spironolactone, 30 in gonadotrophin releasing hormone analogue (GnRHa) group received GnRHa injection and 17 had no intervention. Height velocity (HV), increment of bone age/chronological age (ΔBA/ΔCA), the final adult height (FAH) were compared among groups and the safety of letrozole treatment was evaluated. HV maintained faster during letrozole treatment when compared with other groups. HV during GnRHa treatment showed slightly decline in the first 6 months, but decreased remarkably after 6 months, and was significantly lower than that in letrozole group ( < 0.05). The matur