Urinary and serum steroid concentrations in the management of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Lack of physiologic correlations.

Serum concentrations of 17-hydroxyprogesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, progesterone, testosterone, and androstenedione and 24-hour excretion of 17-ketosteroids and pregnanetriol were measured serially in 18 children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (21-hydroxylase deficiency) during a two-year period. Correlations were sought between results of measurements of these steroids and clinical progress assessed by physical examination and skeletal maturity to determine if measurement of concentration of these substances at a single point in time could be used to gauge the dose of corticosteroids for optimum treatment. We found that these measurements of steroids were generally not useful indicators of optimum control of the disease. Repeated careful clinical examination and assessment of changes in growth velocity and skeletal maturation seem to be the best criteria on which to base dosage of corticosteroids used for therapy.