Question
A 9-year-old girl has been found to have some breast development. Is this precocious puberty? How should it be treated?
Answer
Whether true or false, precocious puberty will exhibit the characteristic of ‘rapid growth’, but the epiphyses will close prematurely. Children with idiopathic precocious puberty are affected by internal sex hormones, leading to an accelerated growth of the physique, early closure of the epiphyses, extended growth period, and early cessation of growth in the early growth stage, resulting in a final adult height that is lower than that of normally developing peers during adolescence. The final height of children with idiopathic precocious puberty may be less than 1.5 meters.