A 13-year-old adolescent boy with persistent, well-documented gender dysphoria has entered early puberty. The multidisciplinary team plans to delay further pubertal development to give him time for exploration before any decision on cross-sex hormones. Which intervention achieves this goal, and what is its key characteristic?

• A Immediate oestrogen therapy, which is fully reversible at this age
• B GnRH agonist therapy, which suppresses puberty reversibly ✓
• C GnRH agonist therapy, which causes irreversible arrest of pubertal development
• D High-dose cyproterone acetate, which induces permanent infertility

Explanation

GnRH analogues such as leuprolide suspend pubertal progression by suppressing gonadotropin release, and their effects are reversible on withdrawal, buying time for psychological exploration without irreversible bodily change. Immediate cross-sex hormones produce partially irreversible changes such as breast development or voice deepening, killing option A. Option C is wrong precisely because suppression reverses, and cyproterone is an antiandrogen used for paraphilic disorders rather than pubertal blockade in adolescents.

Reference: Williams Textbook of Endocrinology, 14th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.