What tests are needed for precocious puberty

In fact, raising a child is a very difficult thing, because if you are not careful, your child may have some abnormal conditions. If your child grows too fat, you will worry about whether your child's body shape will be affected in the future, but if he grows too thin, you will worry about his malnutrition. Therefore, there will be a lot of parents who give their children excessive nourishment, just to make them develop very healthily, but this will cause their children to suffer from precocious puberty.

1. Plasma FSH and LH determination The basal values ​​of plasma FSH and LH in children with idiopathic precocious puberty may be higher than normal, which is often difficult to judge. It is necessary to use the GnRH stimulation test, also known as the luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) stimulation test. Generally, intravenous injection of Gnrh is used, at 2.5μg/kg/maximum dose ≤100μg), and serum LH and FSH are measured before injection (basic value) and 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes after injection. When the HL peak value is >15U/L (female) or >25U/L (male); LH/FSH peak value is >0.7, and LH peak/basic value is >3, it can be considered that the gonad axis function has been activated.

2. Bone age determination: Bone age is assessed based on X-rays of the hands and wrists to determine whether bone development is advanced. Children with precocious puberty generally have a bone age that exceeds their actual age.

3. Ultrasound examination Choose pelvic ultrasound to check the development of the ovaries and uterus of girls; for boys, pay attention to the testicles, adrenal cortex and other parts. If the pelvic ultrasound shows that there are multiple follicles ≥4mm in the ovaries, it is precocious puberty. If a single follicle with a diameter >9mm is found, it is mostly a cyst. If the ovaries are not large and the uterus is >3.5cm long and the endometrium is thickened, it is mostly the effect of exogenous androgens.

4. If CT or MRI examinations are suspected to be caused by intracranial tumors or adrenal diseases, head or abdominal CT or MRI examinations should be performed.

5. Other examinations can be further selected according to the clinical manifestations of the child. For example, if hypothyroidism is suspected, T3, T4, and TSH can be measured. Gonadal tumors have increased testosterone and estradiol concentrations. Children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia have significantly increased blood 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) and urine 17-ketosteroids (17-KS). Therefore, if a child has precocious puberty, parents must relieve their concerns, let the child not have a mental burden, and actively cooperate with the doctor to examine and treat the child. In this way, children with precocious puberty can develop normally and it will not affect their healthy growth.

Therefore, after precocious puberty occurs, you must go to the hospital for these examinations. None of these examinations can be neglected, otherwise your child's condition will not be correctly diagnosed. If it is a wrong diagnosis, the consequences will be very serious. Not only will there be no way to prescribe the right medicine, but it will also cause a lot of sequelae, especially the measurement of bone age must be checked in detail. This is an important examination item for judging precocious puberty.