Question
The child is now 8 years and 3 months old, standing at 129.1cm tall and weighing 25.2kg. A month ago, the child began to experience pain in the right breast, with a hard lump felt upon palpation. Two weeks ago, the left breast also started hurting. No signs of pubic hair or discharge have been observed yet. We took the child to Fuzhou Children’s Hospital for a consultation, where an X-ray of the bone age was taken, showing the child’s bone age to be 9.7 years. Do we need to intervene with treatment for precocious puberty? What precautions should we take during the treatment?
Answer
When assessing whether a child needs intervention for precocious puberty, doctors consider multiple factors including the child’s age, height, weight, sexual development status, and bone age. Based on the information you provided, the child’s bone age is slightly advanced but has not reached the standard for the onset of puberty (typically girls show breast development before 8 years or menstruation before 10 years can be diagnosed as precocious puberty). Therefore, the focus at this point should be on preventing precocious puberty and addressing potential psychological issues that may arise from early menarche.
Generally speaking, for children diagnosed with central precocious puberty (CPP), treatment with GnRH analogs (GnRHa) is recommended. This treatment method can temporarily inhibit the development of secondary sexual characteristics in children, extend their growth period, and thus improve their adult height. Currently available in China are the slow-release types of GnRHa such as leuprorelin acetate and norethindrone acetate.
