Idiopathic early puberty: Long-term outcomes

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The interest of pediatricians in disorders of growth and pubertal development sometimes wanes as their patients move into adulthood. Consequently, there is a paucity of information available on the longer-term outcome of some of these disorders, especially those thought to be benign.

In this issue of The Journal, Cassio et al in Italy revisited a number of adult women who had previously taken part in a study of idiopathic early puberty. The design of the study allowed the investigators to examine groups of women who had been treated for their early puberty with triptorelin, an untreated control group, and a group of normal controls. The follow up period extended to six years post menarche.

The characteristics of menses, various hormonal measurements, and ultrasonographic examination of pelvic organs did not differ significantly between the three groups, suggesting that neither early puberty nor its treatment had any important late effect on reproductive function. Interestingly, as suggested in other studies, the numbers of subjects who were sexually active at the time of study was slightly higher in those with early puberty (treated or not) than in the normal controls.