Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: Re-analyzing the effect of injectable testosterone undecanoat depot (TUD) in hypogonadic patients.

Material-method: i) Patients: at onset 175 men with hypogonadism (median age: 64 years). ii) Distribution: by decade. iii) TUD (Nebido-Bayer-Schering) 1000 mg was injected one per 3 months i.m. iv) Prostate volume (PV) appreciated by per-abdominal ultrasound: 3.5 MHz probe, elliptical volume (cm³), Aloka 550. v) Time of analysis: before starting testosterone (T0), after ½ month (T1), 3 (T2), 6 months (T3), 1 (T4), 2 (T5), 3 (T6), 4 (T7), 5 (T8), 6 years (T9). vi) Maximum increment from T0 was noted Δ M %. Average increment was noted ΔA %, and vii) Statistical analysis: Student’s t-test.

Results: i) All average prostatic volume for decade in Table 1.

ii) PV at T0 increases with age, from 17.33 (19–29 years) to 47.41 (80–89 years), P=0.0007. iii) Considering all observations (some at 5/6 years), TUD did not increase PV significantly (average of increment=5.51). iv) Inside a specific decade no significant increased in PV was registered: all P>0.05 (80–89 decades, P=0.057). v) In some patients, especially from 50–79 years, TUD could decrease slightly prostatic volume.

Conclusions: Considering the risk for prostate (in elderly), testosterone undecanoat 1000 mg depot injectable is a safe treatment, even after 3–6 years of administration. Precautions should be accorded to men over 80 years old, after the third administration. Further observation needed.