[Precocious puberty due to HCG secreting pinealoma (author's transl)].

The present report concerns a six years nine months old boy in whom a HCG secreting pineal tumor (pinealocytoma type I) was responsible for precocious puberty. Features : polydipsia, deepened voice, pubic hair, penile enlargement without corresponding testicular growth. Serum basal concentrations of LH (150 mU/ml), testosterone (85.80 nanomole/l), HCG (115 ng/ml) and its beta subunit (15 ng/ml) were markedly elevated, FSH was low (3.9 mU/ml) ] dissociated hypopituitarism was also present. A surgical removal of the tumor was performed (RIA of the neoplastic tissue revealed high HCG and beta HCG activity) and after the operation the child had radiation therapy. Recovery for the foregoing procedure was rapid, but after some months, in spite chemotherapy his condition deteriorated progressively. The apparent limitation of pinealoma and precocious puberty to the male sex is discussed and supposed to be partly the result of the ectopic gonadotropin secretion. These tumors are compared to other HCG secreting carcinomas located elsewhere in the body and causing sexual precocity in boys only.