Etiologies of Precocious Puberty: 15-Year Experience in a Tertiary Hospital in Southern Thailand

• Published in: Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Vol. 23; no. 12; pp. 1263 - 1271
• Main Authors: Jaruratanasirikul, Somchit, Thaiwong, Maethanee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG 01.12.2010
• Subjects: Age Factors; central precocious puberty; Child; Child, Preschool; congenital adrenal hyperplasia; early puberty; Female; Humans; Infant; Male; ovarian cyst; precocious puberty; premature adrenarche; premature thelarche; Puberty, Precocious - diagnosis; Puberty, Precocious - etiology; Thailand; Thailand
• ISSN: 0334-018X; 2191-0251
• DOI: 10.1515/jpem.2010.200

Background: Precocious puberty (PP) is defined as the appearance of secondary sex characteristic at an age <8 years in girls and <9 years in boys, or menarche <9 years in girls. Objective: To determine the etiologies and clinical characteristics of children presenting with PP. Subjects and method: The medical records of 307 children (292 girls, 15 boys) with PP (1995-2009) were reviewed. Results: The most common etiology of PP in girls was premature thelarche (35.5%), followed by early puberty (25.4%) and central precocious puberty (23.8%). All boys had underlying pathologic etiologies. The average age of girls with premature thelarche was significantly younger than those with any other etiologies (2.81.6 vs 6.71.7 years, p <0.001). Height and weight SDSs of girls with central precocious puberty and early puberty were significantly greater than those with premature thelarche. Conclusions: The most common etiologies of PP in girls are premature thelarche in girls <6 years and early puberty in girls >6 years. PP in boys has to be investigated for underlying etiologies.