Treatment of constitutional delayed puberty with a combination of testosterone esters

Thirteen boys who had constitutional delayed puberty (CDP) were treated with a combination of short- and long-acting testosterone esters (testosterone propionate, testosterone phenylpropionate, testosterone isocaproate). Mean age at the onset of treatment was 14.9 +/- 0.6 years and bone age delay was -2.7 +/- 0.9 years. An intramuscular dose of 200 mg testosterone was administered 4 times at 3-week intervals and the treated CDP boys were followed for 2 years. All boys with CDP entered puberty after the last dose (testicular volume > or = 4 ml) and growth rate increased from 4.5 +/- 0.5 cm/year pretreatment to 8.4 +/- 1.6 cm/year posttreatment after the 2-year follow-up period. Height for bone age SD score did not alter significantly from a mean of -1.1 pretreatment to -1.3 posttreatment as well as predicted height pretreatment (173.5 +/- 6.6 cm) and posttreatment (173.3 +/- 4.9 cm). A combination of testosterone esters in a given dose and schedule is a safe and effective treatment for prepubertal boys with CDP.