Treatment of central precocious puberty with depot leuprorelin

We evaluated the pituitary and gonadal suppression in 40 girls and nine boys treated with depot leuprorelin (3.75 mg sc if body weight > or = 20 kg, 1.87 mg if body weight < 20 kg) every 28 days for central precocious puberty. Gonadal suppression was obtained in most of the children with this dose: 3 months after initiation of the treatment, 85% of children had a peak plasma luteinizing hormone response to gonadotropin-releasing hormone < 3 IU/l and the gonadal axis remained suppressed throughout the duration of the study (up to 24 months). Four patients required higher doses of leuprorelin to achieve suppression. In two girls, a cutaneous reaction to the drug was associated with incomplete suppression and the treatment had to be interrupted. Plasma leuprorelin levels tended to increase from day 3 to day 28 after injection. Residual leuprorelin levels measured 28 days after injection were stable during the first year of the study. We conclude that an initial dose of depot leuprorelin of 3.75 mg sc every 28 days is efficient in most children with central precocious puberty.