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Previous Volume 341:1763-1765 December 2, 1999 Number 23 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Normal puberty starts when pulsatile release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus begins. This triggers the release of luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone from the pituitary. In both sexes, these pituitary hormones then activate gonadal function. Sexual precocity is the appearance of any sign of secondary sexual maturation before the age of eight years in girls and before the age of nine years in boys,¹ and precocity due to early activation of the pulse generator of hypothalamic GnRH is known as central, or GnRH-dependent, precocious puberty.

In most girls with central precocious puberty, no cause can be identified, whereas . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

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• Richter-Unruh, A., Wessels, H. T., Menken, U., Bergmann, M., Schmittmann-Ohters, K., Schaper, J., Tappeser, S., Hauffa, B. P. (2002). Male LH-Independent Sexual Precocity in a 3.5-Year-Old Boy Caused by a Somatic Activating Mutation of the LH Receptor in a Leydig Cell Tumor. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 87: 1052-1056 [Abstract] [Full Text]