Thelarche variant: a new syndrome of precocious sexual maturation?

We describe 10 girls (mean age 3.7 years, range 1.9-6.9) with precocious sexual maturation and clinical findings intermediate between those of premature thelarche and central precocious puberty. Studies of spontaneous gonadotropin secretion and ovarian ultrasound morphology also revealed findings intermediate between those of isolated premature thelarche and central precocious puberty. There was no response in 6 of the girls treated with GnRH analogue, whether administered intranasally, sc, or by monthly depot injections. We have called this condition thelarche variant because the gonadotropin independence and cyclical nature of breast development may well be due to a lesion of folliculogenesis.