Long-acting gonadotropin hormone-releasing hormone analog used to treat uteri.

Because the size of leiomyomata uteri often decreases significantly after menopause, the authors elected to employ a long-acting gonadotropin hormone-releasing hormone analog (GnRH-alpha) (imbzl-D-His6-Pro9-Net-GnRH) to create a state of pseudomenopause in six patients with leiomyomata uteri diagnosed on the basis of pelvic examination and confirmed by pelvic ultrasonography. Patients received daily, subcutaneous injections of GnRH-alpha (4 micrograms X kg-1 X 24 hour-1) for 6 months. Uterine size (13.8 +/- 4 weeks [mean +/- standard deviation (SD), n = 6]) was determined by pelvic examination and uterine volume (533.9 +/- 394 ml [mean +/- SD, n = 6]) was determined by pelvic ultrasonography before medical therapy was begun. They observed a decrease in uterine size by pelvic examination within 4 weeks of the initiation of therapy, and all patients experienced a decrease in uterine size (9.5 +/- 4 weeks [mean +/- SD, n = 6]) (P less than 0.05) within 8 weeks of initiation of therapy. After 6 months of therapy, uterine size was 229.5 +/- 145 ml (mean +/- SD, n = 6). During treatment, plasma estrogen concentrations were assessed intermittently (every 1 to 4 weeks) and remained less than 4 pg X ml-1 throughout the period of therapy. All six patients have discontinued therapy. There has been no increase in uterine size in these patients for a period from 3 to 7 months.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)