Isolated premature thelarche and thelarche variant: clinical and auxological follow-up of 119 girls.
Age of thelarche presentation, breast evolution, growth and puberty patterns were retrospectively evaluated in 119 girls with premature thelarche (PT). Thelarche spontaneously presented before 2 yr of chronological age in 80% of girls and completely regressed in 60% of them. Breast regression was significantly more frequent in the patients with more precocious thelarche presentation. In 40% of the girls breast size did not significantly change during a follow-up period ranging from 12 to 134 months (40.6 +/- 32.5). Among the 38 girls who were followed up to an age greater than 8 yr, seven (18.4%) developed central precocious puberty (PP). These 7 patients who progressed into true PP were indistinguishable from girls with normal puberty for age of thelarche presentation, breast size, evolution and auxological features. On the contrary, a subgroup of patients (28.5%) with accelerated height velocity and/or bone age at diagnosis of PT showed an auxological pattern different from normally growing girls during a 3-yr follow-up, but they did not seem to have higher risk of progressing into precocious puberty. In conclusion, PT encompasses different clinical, and perhaps hormonal situations, therefore requiring careful clinical follow-up.
Volta
C
C
Dipartimenti di Pediatria, Università di Parma, Italy.
Bernasconi
S
S
Cisternino
M
M
Buzi
F
F
Ferzetti
A
A
Street
M E
ME
Da Milano
A M
AM
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D001940:Breast / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008572:Menarche / Q000502:physiology; D011629:Puberty, Precocious / Q000473:pathology*; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000502:physiology*