http://endodoc.org/2009/03/22/medical-whodunnit-7-year-old-male-with-rapid-growth/ Potpourri of Pediatric Endocrinology Fri, 14 May 2010 09:00:04 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://endodoc.org/2009/03/22/medical-whodunnit-7-year-old-male-with-rapid-growth/comment-page-1/#comment-92586 endodoc Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:52:09 +0000 http://endodoc.org/?p=157#comment-92586 Interesting. I don't know exactly what they meant by "2nd stage of puberty" as we usually grade puberty by Tanner staghing and here it is important to know if the pubertal signs are related to adrenal gland or testicular activity. If your son has "true" early puberty, the testes will be pubertal in size. If the testes are pubertal in size that means the pituitary has been activated and the question is why and what to do. I assume the doctor felt the pituitary was activated, hence the MRI. There are good medicines to stop the early puberty if it is due to an activated pituitary. If the testes are prepubertal in size, the likely source for the male hormones is the adrenal gland. If the bone age were not advanced no one would be very concerned as many chjildren have early activation of the adrenal leading to pubic hair and underarm odor earlier than usual. The doctor was right to consider if a mild form of adrenal hyperplasia was to blame but if the testes were pubertal, the adrenal would be an unlikely reason for the pubertal signs. I have no specific suggestions without knowing more about your son but it seems like the endocrinologist is thinking about the right things. Keep me posted. thanks for your interest. Interesting. I don’t know exactly what they meant by “2nd stage of puberty” as we usually grade puberty by Tanner staghing and here it is important to know if the pubertal signs are related to adrenal gland or testicular activity. If your son has “true” early puberty, the testes will be pubertal in size. If the testes are pubertal in size that means the pituitary has been activated and the question is why and what to do. I assume the doctor felt the pituitary was activated, hence the MRI. There are good medicines to stop the early puberty if it is due to an activated pituitary. If the testes are prepubertal in size, the likely source for the male hormones is the adrenal gland. If the bone age were not advanced no one would be very concerned as many chjildren have early activation of the adrenal leading to pubic hair and underarm odor earlier than usual. The doctor was right to consider if a mild form of adrenal hyperplasia was to blame but if the testes were pubertal, the adrenal would be an unlikely reason for the pubertal signs. I have no specific suggestions without knowing more about your son but it seems like the endocrinologist is thinking about the right things. Keep me posted. thanks for your interest.

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