Bone Mass, Bone Geometry, and Body Composition in Female-to-Male Transsexual Persons after Long-Term Cross-Sex Hormonal Therapy

Context: Female-to-male transsexual persons (transsexual men) undergo extreme hormonal changes due to ovariectomy and testosterone substitution, allowing studies on sex steroid effects on bone geometry and physiology in the adult. Objective: The objective of the study was to examine the effects of cross-gender sex steroid exposure on volumetric bone parameters in transsexual men. Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Setting: Participants were recruited from the Center for Sexology and Gender Problems at the Ghent University Hospital (Ghent, Belgium). Participants: Fifty transsexual men after sex reassignment surgery with 50 age-matched control women and an additional 16 transsexual men before testosterone substitution and sex reassignment surgery with 16 control women participated in the study. Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measures were areal and volumetric bone parameters using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and peripheral quantitative computed tomography, body composition (dual-energy ...