Puberty without Gonadotropins

Abstract

Precocious sexual development has been divided, classically, into two broad pathophysiological categories: true or central precocious puberty and pseudoprecocity (premature onset of isolated production of sex steroids). Recent evidence suggests that a new subset of premature sexual maturation may be identified as gonadotropin-independent precocity. To describe the features of this syndrome more precisely and to explore its underlying pathophysiological nature, the present authors have contrasted children with gonadotropm-independent precocity and children with central precocious puberty in terms of their clinical presentations, endocrinological features, and