Precocious puberty: The clinical profile and the etiological classification of children presented at a tertiary care children’s hospital

Objectives: To determine the clinical spectrum and underlying etiologies of children presented with precocious puberty at The Children’s Hospital &The Institute of Child health, Lahore.

Methods: It is a retrospective review of all the children presented with precocious puberty over one year, from January 2015 to December 2015; at the department of Paediatric Endocrinology & Diabetes, The Children’s Hospital & The Institute of Child Health, Lahore.

Results: Total 43 cases of precocious puberty (PP), with 26 females were reported in one year. Central precocious puberty (CPP) constituted 55.8% (24/43) and was found to be more prevalent in female (22/24). In 20/24 cases (83.3%) of central precocious puberty underlying etiology was idiopathic. Peripheral precocious puberty was found in 19/43 cases (44.1%) with male predominance (15/19). Congenital adrenal hyperplasia was the most frequent (12/19) underlying cause of peripheral precocious puberty in our cohort.

Conclusion: Precocious puberty could be a manifestation of underlying serious medical condition. It should be thoroughly evaluated with the aim to diagnose the underlying pathology and to treat them promptly.