Discordant bone maturation of the hand in children with precocious puberty and congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Difference between the bone maturation scores for the tubal and carpal bones of the hand and wrist were assessed by the method of Tanner et al. on X-rays from 10 children with precocious puberty and 10 children with late-diagnosed congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and compared with results in 20 normal children. Scores for the tubular bones were significantly more advanced than those for the carpal bones in both groups of patients, emphasizing the need for caution when using standards derived from normal children to assess bone age in children with markedly accelerated bone maturation.