Peripheral Precocious Puberty

Peripheral precocious puberty is development of puberty without the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary gonadal axis. It is almost always pathological and has an underlying cause. The most common disorders include McCune Albright syndrome, congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), ovarian cyst, adrenal tumors, hCG secreting tumors, severe hypothyroidism and exogenous exposure to sex steroids. Distinguishing central precocious puberty from peripheral form of precocious puberty is important for therapeutic considerations and is best done by a pediatric endocrinologist.