Delayed Puberty ✅ Flashcards
What is delayed puberty defined as in girls?
Lack of evidence of any breast development in girls by the age of 13 years
What is delayed puberty defined as in boys?
Failure of testicular enlargement to at least 4ml in boys by the age of 14 years
What should be included in the history of a child with delayed puberty?
- Details of previous growth pattern
- Symptoms or presence of other chronic disease, including details of medications
- Features suggestive of gonadal impairment
- Presence of symptoms suggestive of hypopituitarism
- Impaired sense of smell
- Family history of delayed puberty
What features on history might suggest gonadal impairment?
- Cryptorchidism
- Need for orchidopexy
- Gonadal irradiation
What symptoms might suggest hypopituitarism?
- Headache
- Visual disturbance
- Significant neonatal hypoglycaemia
- Prolonged jaundice
What might an impaired sense of smell alongside delayed puberty suggest?
Kallmann’s syndrome
What produces the impaired sense of smell in Kallmann’s syndrome?
A defect in olfactory nerve development
What should be included when taking a family history in delayed puberty?
Timing of maternal menarche
What should be noted on examination in a child with delayed puberty?
- Height
- Weight
- Tanner stages
- Testicular volumes
- Dysmorphic signs
- Signs suggestive of an underlying disorder
- Signs of raised ICP
What should a measurement of height be compared with when assessing delayed puberty>
The target height range based on parental height
What syndromes associated with delayed puberty might have dysmorphic signs?
- Turner’s syndrome
- Klinefelter’s syndrome
Give 3 signs that may be suggestive of an underlying disorder in delayed puberty?
- Clubbing
- Hypertension
- Harrison’s sulci
What features on examination might suggest congenital hypopituitarism?
- Midline defects of the craniofacial skeleton
- Presence of optic atrophy
What examinations to identify signs of raised ICP should be done in delayed puberty?
- Fundoscopy
- Visual field examinations
What investigations should be considered in a child with delayed puberty?
- Left wrist XR
- Pelvic ultrasound
- Relevant tests of any system thought to be a cause of chronic disease impacting on the timing of puberty
- Karyotyping
- Basal blood sample
- Testicular function testing
What is the purpose of left wrist XR in delayed puberty?
Guide to the extent of physiological delay
How is bone age calculated from a left wrist XR?
Tanner-Whitehouse methodology
What information can be obtained from a pelvic USS that may be useful in delayed puberty?
- Size of uterus
- Extent of endometrial response
- Size of ovaries
- Presence of ovarian follicles
Why might karyotyping be done in delayed puberty?
To exclude Turner’s syndrome or Klinefelter’s syndrome
What should be measured in the basal blood sample in delayed puberty?
- LH
- FSH
- Testosterone (boys)
- Oestradiol (girls)
What do elevated basal gonadotrophins suggest in delayed puberty?
Primary gonadal failure
What is the limitation of a finding of low basal gonadotrophins in delayed puberty?
They do not reliably distinguish constitutionally delayed puberty from hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism