EEG and evoked potentials in precocious puberty.

We recorded brain stem auditory evoked potentials, pattern reversal visual evoked potentials and electroencephalograms in 19 children, 2-8 years old. Sixteen had precocious puberty and three had precocious adrenarche. Two of the children with precocious puberty had hypothalamic hamartomas, one had an optic glioma, and one had a history of hydrocephalus. The EEG was abnormal in 7 patients: three had diffuse slowing, and four showed possible paroxysmal features. BAEPs and VEPs were normal in all patients. This study showed no abnormalities in two conduction pathways of the central nervous system and no evidence of a deleterious effect of hormonal aberrations in patients with precocious puberty. Abnormal EEG in these patients is more likely to reflect occult diencephalic disease than widespread neurophysiological dysfunction.