Influence of size and duration of gynecomastia on its response to treatment with tamoxifen Terapia médica de la ginecomastia con tamoxifeno. Influencia del volumen y duración de la ginecomastia en el resultado terapéutico

Abstract

Background: Gynecomastia is treated when it is painful, there are psychosocial repercussions or it does not revert in less tan two years. It is treated with the antiestrogenic drug tamoxifen, but there are doubts about its effectiveness in high volume gynecomastias or in those lasting more than two years. Aim: To assess the effectiveness and safety of tamoxifen for gynecomastia and the influence of its volume and duration on the response to treatment. Patients and methods: Forty three patients with gynecomastia, aged 12 to 62 years, were studied. Twenty seven patients had a pubertal physiological gynecomastia, in eight it was caused by medications, in four it was secondary to hypogonadism, in three it was idiopathic and in one it was due to toxic exposure. Twenty patients had mastodynia and in 33, gynecomastia had a diameter over 4 cm. It lasted less than two years in 30 patients, more than two years in nine and four did not recall its duration. All were treated with tamoxifen 20 mg/da