Abstract
Study Objective
Risks associated with precocious puberty might be observed in the rapidly progressive
form of borderline early puberty (BEP). Differentiating the rate of progression is
important for deciding treatment with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue (GnRHa).
The aim was to examine the treatment characteristics and effect of treatment on predicted
adult height (PAH).
Design
Retrospective observational study.
Setting
Single-center, a pediatric endocrinology unit.
Participants
A total of 135 girls, pubertal findings starting between 7-10 years of age.
Interventions
Data were collected via chart review. Patient groups were defined as treated with
GnRHa (n = 63) or untreated (n = 72) girls.
Main Outcome Measures
Referral characteristics and anthropometric and pubertal findings of the patients
with BEP, effect of treatment on PAH, and final height of the groups were compared.
Results
The mean (±SD) age of the patients at admission and for the first appearence of pubertal
findings was 8.8 ± 1.0 and 8.0 ± 0.8 years, respectively. Target height and PAH-target
height values at admission were similar. At initiation of treatment, PAH of the treated
girls (157.8 ± 7.2 cm) were significantly lower compared with untreated girls (160.7 ± 6.5 cm).
The age at menarche of patients in the treated and untreated groups were 12.3 ± 1.0
and 11.3 ± 1.1 years, respectively. The final height of the groups were similar (157.1 ± 6.6
vs 157.0 ± 5.9 cm; P = .922) despite a lower PAH of the treated group.
Conclusion
GnRHa treatment resulted in an increase in PAH and normalized the age of menarche
in patients with BEP. In selected girls with rapidly progressive BEP, GnRHa treatment
may be considered.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 09, 2019
Footnotes
The authors indicate no conflicts of interest.
Z.H.D. and Z.Y.A. contributed equally to this work.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc.
