Central precocious puberty: clinical and laboratory features

To determine whether the initial presentation of patients with central precocious puberty (CPP) varies according to the aetiology, whether this permits the differentiation between idiopathic and organic forms, and whether the body mass index (BMI) and plasma leptin concentrations are linked to gonadotrophin secretion. The clinical and laboratory features of 256 patients (26 boys and 230 girls) with CPP were studied separately in boys and girls. We compared patients with idiopathic CPP (seven boys and 186 girls) to those with organic CPP, whose pubertal development revealed a central nervous system (CNS) lesion (five boys and 11 girls), and to patients with organic CPP associated with a previously treated CNS lesion (14 boys and 33 girls). Boys with organic CPP, having revealed or treated CNS lesions, started their puberty earlier (3·0 ± 1·0 years and 6·7 ± 0·5 years) than boys with idiopathic CPP (8·5 ± 0·2 years, P