title: Clinical expression of precocious puberty in girls.
abstract: Premature development of breast and/or pubic hair in a prepubertal girl used to raise questions and concerns from the families. There is actually a wide range of clinical expressions of precocious puberty in girls and not all presentations are considered to be true precocious puberty. Central precocious puberty occurs in 10-20% of girls, but beside the typical forms other clinical presentations have been identified. In 50-60% of the cases, only one secondary sex characteristic shows premature development and raises the diagnosis of premature thelarche, premature pubarche or isolated metrorrhagia. In 10% of the cases, autonomous ovarian overproduction of estrogens causes peripheral precocious puberty. Lastly, hyperestrogenism may have exogenous causes, such as exposure to environmental chemical pollutants. A decision on therapeutic management is based on clinical, biological and radiologic examinations, and LHRH analogous treatment should be limited to central precocious puberty before the age of 8 years.
authors: Charles
authors: C
authors: Sultan
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Gaspari
authors: Nicolas
authors: N
authors: Kalfa
authors: Françoise
authors: F
authors: Paris
mesh_terms: D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D001940:Breast / Q000254:growth & development; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D010053:Ovary / Q000254:growth & development; D011629:Puberty, Precocious / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy