Differentiating true precocious puberty and puberty variants in consecutive 275 girls: a single center experience

Emre Sarıkaya; Fatih Kilci

doi:10.1515/jpem-2024-0467

Article

Differentiating true precocious puberty and puberty variants in consecutive 275 girls: a single center experience

Emre Sarıkaya and Fatih Kilci

Published/Copyright: January 31, 2025

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From the journal Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Volume 38 Issue 4

Abstract

Objectives

This study aimed to identify clinical features of girls referred to a pediatric endocrinology clinic for suspected precocious puberty, differentiate true precocious puberty from other variants, evaluate treatment status, and identify distinguishing factors between patient groups.

Methods

We retrospectively evaluated the records of 275 consecutive girls aged 0–10 years referred for suspected precocious puberty.

Results

Among the patients, 30 (10.9 %) were diagnosed with precocious puberty, 35 (12.7 %) with premature adrenarche, 22 (8 %) with premature thelarche, 33 (12 %) with rapidly progressing early puberty, 108 (39.3 %) with early puberty, and 47 (17.1 %) had a normal diagnosis. Precocious puberty was associated with higher rates of overweight/obesity (p=0.002), advanced bone age (p<0.001), height SD, and mid-parental height SD difference (p<0.001), as well as a history of preterm birth (p=0.041). Patients with rapidly progressing early puberty had mothers with a lower age at menarche (p=0.040). No significant differences were found for being born small for gestational age, maternal polycystic ovary syndrome, screen time, and junk food consumption (p>0.05). Treatment was recommended for 32 patients (11.6 %), including 11 with precocious puberty and 21 with rapidly progressing early puberty.

Conclusions

Most patients referred for early pubertal development are diagnosed with normal puberty or its variants. Assessing preterm birth, early maternal menarche age, and advanced bone age helps identify true precocious puberty and rapidly progressing early puberty, aiding timely treatment.

Keywords: bone age; maternal menarche age; obesity; precocious puberty; preterm

Corresponding author: Emre Sarıkaya, MD, Pediatric endocrinologist, Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Kocaeli City Hospital, Kocaeli, Türkiye, E-mail: sarikaya.emre@gmail.com

Acknowledgments

We owe a debt of gratitude to our dedicated spouses for their unwavering support, which allowed us the opportunity to prepare this work.

Research ethics: Ethics Committee approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Kocaeli City Hospital with the reference number 2024/53.
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.
Research funding: None declared.
Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2024-09-29

Accepted: 2025-01-17

Published Online: 2025-01-31

Published in Print: 2025-04-28

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https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2024-0467

Keywords for this article

bone age; maternal menarche age; obesity; precocious puberty; preterm