Precocious puberty: diagnosis and management

Precocious puberty is commonly defined as puberty that starts before age 8 years in girls and 9 years in boys. The causes of it may range from a variant of normal development to various pathologic conditions. The etiology of precocious puberty is classified by the underlying pathogenesis into gonadotropin dependent central precocious puberty and peripheral precocious puberty which is independent of gonadotropin but due to different other causes. Variants of precocious puberty include premature thelarche, premature puberche and isolated premature menarche which imply onset of isolated changes without any other signs of sexual development. Precocious puberty might have an impact on final stature owing to premature epiphyseal fusion and also it has got influence on psychosocial wellbeing. Evaluation includes a…