Pubarquia precoz: Experiencia en 173 casos

Resumen

Background: Precocious pubarche (PP), defined as the development
of sexual pubic hair before 8 years of age in females and before 9 years in males, is usually a benign
condition but it can also be the first sign of an underlying disease. Aim: To analyze the etiology and
perform a short term follow up in a cohort of patients with PP. Material and methods: A group of
173 patients (158 females) consulted for PP with a mean age of 7.4±0.1 years. These patients were
followed between 15 to 60 months. Anthropometric measurements, bone age, serum levels of total
testosterone, 17 OH progesterone (17 OHP) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) were
evaluated. Results: Mean birth weight and length was 3024.1±50.5 g and 48.5±0.3 cm,
respectively. Ten percent of children were small for gestational age at birth. Bone age was
accelerated by 1.1±0.01 years. One hundred and twelve patients were classified as having idiopathic
PP (64.7%; 105 females), 29 as central precocious puberty (16.8%; only females), 16 as exaggerated
adrenarche (EA 9.2%; 13 females) and 16 as non classical adrenal hyperplasia (9.2%; 11 females).
Conclusions: PP represents a common and usually benign sign. However, 26% of cases had a
pathologic underlying condition. Therefore, all children with PP should be evaluated by a pediatric
endocrinologist. Low birth weight was not frequent in this cohort and these patients did not show EA