Evaluatıon of Pituıtary/Cranial imagıng results of central puberty precocıous cases.

BACKGROUND

The activation of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) pulse generator before the age of 8 years in girls and 9 years in boys results in central precocious puberty (CPP). Previous studies have shown that the height of the pituitary gland in the CPP cases is higher than in the normal children.

AIM: In this study, ıt was aimed to evaluate the pituitary gland volüme by MRI in CPP children, and explore the intracranial lesions among children with CPP.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

The study was performed with 50 children (41 girls, 9 boys) who had been diagnosed with CPP. Pituitary MRI was performed in every child after the diagnosis of CPP. Pituitary gland volüme in CPP children was compared with age/sex-matched control subjects. In addition, if available, cranial MRI of patients were evaluated for the presence of additional intracranial abnormalities or space-occupying lesions.

RESULTS

The mean chronological age at diagnosis was 7.1 ± 1.0 (2.4-7.9) years in girls and 7.4 ± 1.7 (3.7-8.8) years in boys. CNS imaging showed pathological findings in 17% (7/41) of the girl cases and 55.5% (5/9) of the boy cases. Pituitary volumes of girls aged 6.0-7.9 years and boys aged 8.0-8.9 years were found to be increased compared to the control group.

CONCLUSION

In this study, we found that CNS imaging showed pathological findings in 17% of the girl cases, and 55.5% of the boy cases. Pituitary volumes of girls aged 6.0-7.9 years and boys aged 8.0-8.9 years were found to be increased compared to the control group.