SIX EXAMPLES OF PRECOCIOUS SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

A GENERAL discussion of the problems involved in precocious sexual development of children was presented by one of us (H. P. G. S.) in 1946.¹This publication and another one to follow are intended to amplify that general discussion with a presentation of 6 specific examples. The first of these publications deals with diagnostic and pathogenetic studies, while the second will be devoted to the aspects of growth and maturation in the same patients.²From the beginning, it seems to be of paramount importance to recognize the borderline between pathologic "precocity" of sexual development and what may be termed physiologic "early" sexual development. A few observations on the latter group of children may be briefly recorded with a view to avoiding diagnostic pitfalls and the consequences of calling children abnormal who are exuberantly healthy. <h3>I. "EARLY" SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT</h3> In normal boys "early" sexual development is rarer than in