Very premature pubarche in girls is not a pubertal variant

Hormones (Athens). 2012 Jul-Sep;11(3):356-60. doi: 10.14310/horm.2002.1365.

Abstract

Premature pubarche (PP) in girls is considered to be a benign phenomenon and is the clinical expression of premature adrenarche. Since it does not usually increase the risk of either abnormalities in pubertal development or a reduced final adult height, a non-interventional approach is generally adopted after exclusion of non-classical (NC)congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Extremely premature pubarche is nevertheless not a pubertal variant. We here report two cases of adrenocortical tumors (ACT) for which precocious pubarche was the initial sign. This report suggests that premature pubarche is not always a mere pubertal variant and that a delay in the etiological diagnosis can be harmful. Therefore, pubarche before the age of four years should be considered as a feature of ACT or NC CAH until proven otherwise.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital / diagnosis
  • Adrenarche / physiology
  • Adrenocortical Carcinoma / diagnosis*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Puberty / physiology*
  • Puberty, Precocious / diagnosis*