The optimal hormonal therapy for transsexual
patients is not known. The physical and hormonal characteristics of 38
noncastrate male-to-female transsexuals and 14 noncastrate female-to-male
transsexuals have been measured before and/or during therapy with various
forms and dosages of hormonal therapy. All patients were hormonally and
physically normal prior to therapy.
Ethinyl estradiol was superior to
conjugated estrogen in suppression of testosterone and gonadotropins but
equal in effecting breast growth. The changes in physical and hormonal
characteristics were the same for 0.1 mg/d and 0.5 mg/d of ethinyl estradiol.
The female-to-male transsexuals were well
managed with a dose of intramuscular testosterone cypionate of 400 mg/month,
usually given 200 mg every two weeks. The maximal clitoral length reached
was usually 4 cm. Higher doses of testosterone did not further increase
clitoral length or suppression of gonadotropins; lower doses did not
suppress the gonadotropins.
Based on the information found in this
study, we recommend 0.1 mg/d of ethinyl estradiol for the noncastrate
male-to-female transsexual and 200 mg of intramuscular testosterone
cypionate every two weeks for the noncastrate female-to-male transsexual.
Citation:
Arch Sex Behav 1981 Aug;10(4):347-56 an article published on the Internet by
PubMed
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/>
