Hormone Therapy (male)

My son who has CdLS is now 13 years old. Last year we did not proceed with his doctor’s recommended testosterone therapy because of the possible stress and side effects it may have caused our son. He is now 127 centimeters (around 4 feet, 3 inches) in height and weighs 26.3 kilograms (57-58 lbs.); his bone age is 5 – 7 years. It was suggested that hormone injections would help his bone makeup, but we feel he may not go through puberty until he is 17 or 18 years of age. Would this be too late for any intervention?

Regarding hormone injections, I do not think there is any medical risk or danger with waiting to start someone into puberty if they do not go on their own. I would assume from the context of the message that, although your son is 13 years old, he has not yet started into puberty. A delayed bone age is typical of CdLS (anecdotally) and implies that he will continue to be small (no surprise) and go into puberty somewhat later. The male hormones will start the process of fusing his bones and he will no longer grow in height if this occurs. Therefore there is more than one reason to wait. There can be side effects of testosterone treatment and these should be monitored by your doctor.

TK7-13-10

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