title: Changes in carotid artery sonogram in premature adrenarche.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Premature adrenarche (PA), the appearance of pubic hair before the age of 8 years in girls and before 9 years in boys, may predict future morbidity, such as metabolic syndrome (MS).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to assess carotid artery ultrasound changes in children with PA.
  
  
  METHODS
  PA children were matched with a group of prepubertal controls without PA. Subjects and controls underwent clinical and biochemical evaluation and sonograms of the carotid arteries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve children with PA and their matched controls were studied. Carotid artery ultrasonography showed elevation of the inner and outer diameter of the left carotid, and the cross-sectional area of the lumen and outer wall, and the outer diameter of the right carotid artery in PA. However, none of the above results maintained statistical significance when a Hochberg correction was applied.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Carotid artery diameter and cross-sectional area may be useful non-invasive markers of vascular pathology and MS in premature pubarche.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Vanderbilt University Medical School, Nashville, TN, USA. revi.mathew@.vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Revi P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Mathew
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernanz-Schulman
authors.forename: Wenli
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Saville
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bremer
mesh_terms: D050499:Adrenarche; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000209:etiology; D011629:Puberty, Precocious / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*