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- What are the unique features of precocious puberty associated with primary
hypothyroidism?
The unique features of precocious puberty associated with primary hypothy-
roidism include decreased growth velocity, absent/sparse pubic hair, and
delayed bone age. Boys with precocious puberty associated with primary
hypothyroidism have testicular enlargement without reactivation of HPG-axis,
while the girls usually present with menarche and inappropriate progression of
secondary sexual characteristics, e.g., menarche at Tanner breast stage 2. In
addition, girls may also have galactorrhoea and multicystic ovaries. Absent/
sparse pubic hair despite testicular enlargement is due to prepubertal levels of
testosterone in boys and deleterious effect of decreased levels of thyroxine on
pilosebaceous unit. Despite raised levels of gonadotropins (FSH), LH response
to GnRH is prepubertal (GIPP) (Fig. 6.9). - A 2-year-old girl presented with breast development (B2) and one episode of
vaginal bleed. Her MR imaging showed a sellar mass. What is the likely
diagnosis?
Precocious puberty in a child with a sellar mass is almost always due to primary
hypothyroidism, as patients with sellar mass usually have delayed puberty,
ab
Fig. 6.9 (a) A 12-year-old boy with overt features of primary hypothyroidism. (b) Bilateral tes-
ticular enlargement without pubic hair
6 Precocious Puberty