[Effects of weakly androgenic anabolic steroids on growth in Turner's syndrome]

The effects of weakly androgenic steroids at minimal doses (norethandrolone 2.5 to 10 mg/day or methandienone 1 mg/day, administered 2 months every trimester) have been studied in 67 patients with Turner syndrome: 37 with 45 XO karyotype and 30 with mosaicism or partial X deletion. Mean bone age at the onset of treatment was 10 4/12 +/- 1 8/12 years, and the mean height retardation, adjusted to parents' height, was 3.7 +/- 1.2 standard deviations. Growth velocity was very significantly increased during the first 3 semesters of treatment. The ratio of bone age to height age, evaluated after 2 years of treatment, did not increase. The adult height reached by 37 treated patients was at the average 1.96 cm higher than that of a control group of 25 adult untreated Turner cases, this difference being not significant. The results varied greatly between individuals, without relation to the type of chromosomal abnormality or the kind and dose of steroid received. The psychological evolution of the treated patients was studied accordingly to their school and/or professional accomplishments. It was satisfactory in most of them. The anabolic treatment and/or the gain in growth velocity during treatment seemed to have positive psychological effect. No side-effects were noticed.