Editor,—We deplore the publication of a paper that lends credibility to a therapeutic regimen that is not only obsolete but also dangerous.1 High dose oestrogen treatment has an unacceptable incidence of side effects, which the authors record, and an unknown risk of thromboembolic problems2 and carcinoma of the breast, ovary, and uterus.

The prevention of excessive adult stature is attained much more benignly by the induction of puberty using low doses of sex steroid at an age and height judged to achieve a satisfactory end point.

Final height is determined by the height attained at onset of puberty,3 a constant amount of height (30 cm) being added to that height. This is why …