Recent advances in the management of sexual precocity in girls

Abstract

Sexual precocity has important psychosocial implications for the prematurely developing child, as well as being associated in some cases with significant pathology. Conscientious evaluation and initiation of effective therapy can have a significant impact on improving long-term outcome. The differentiation between complete sexual precocity with activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis and incomplete sexual precocity without activation of the central reproductive system is of paramount importance. In incomplete sexual precocity, the sex steroids are of exogenous, adrenal, or gonadal origin. Premature adrenarche presents with the early development of pubic hair only and must be distinguished from adrenal hyperplasia or an androgen-secreting neoplasm, which may be associated with accelerated growth, advanced bone age, and virilization. When incomplete sexual precocity involves the ovary, ovarian tumors must be considered. Other causes of incomplete sexual precocity include hypothyroidism and gonadotropin-independent precocity such as McCune-Albright syndrome. Complete sexual precocity or precocious puberty of central origin is diagnosed in girls by gonadotropin-releasing hormone challenge yielding a stimulated luteinizing hormone peak greater than 15 IU/L. Radiologic evaluation of the central axis is necessary. Treatment of precocious puberty relies on the use of potent agonists of gonadotropin-releasing hormone that reversibly suppress the prematurely activated pituitary. Depot preparations are efficacious. Early initiation and careful monitoring of treatment can reduce physical signs of development, improve the likelihood for normal adult height, and postpone normal pubertal progression to a more appropriate age.