Parenteral and Oral Cyproterone Acetate Treatment in Severe Hirsutism
March 2010
in “
Gynecologic and obstetric investigation
”
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Studysummary This study found that parenteral administration of cyproterone acetate was more effective than high-dose oral treatment in reducing facial hair diameter and improving dermatological parameters in patients with severe hirsutism, despite similar androgen suppression. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
In a study from 1987, 20 patients with severe hirsutism were treated with cyproterone acetate either orally (100 mg for the first 10 days of the menstrual cycle) or via a monthly intramuscular implant (300 mg on the first day of each cycle), along with the contraceptive Diane. After 9 treatment cycles and a 3-month post-treatment period, both treatments showed no significant differences in serum levels of testosterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, and prolactin. However, the parenteral (implant) group exhibited a greater reduction in facial hair diameter and more improvement in dermatological parameters than the oral group. This suggests that medium-dose parenteral treatment may be more effective than higher-dose oral treatment, raising questions about possible differences in cellular metabolism between the two methods.
