IMPE Abstracts

Introduction: The age of onset of puberty in girls has been decreasing in recent decades. An increase in the incidence of precocious or early onset of puberty has been observed during the COVID 19 lockdown. Objective: To establish the characteristics of a group of girls who have consulted for precocious or early puberty during the lockdown period from March 2020 to April 2021. Materials and methods: Data of 104 girls from the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, without organic pathology were retrospectively analyzed. They were divided into two groups: Group 1 (G1): precocious puberty (persistent and evolving thelarche in girls under 8 years of age) and Group 2 (G2): rapidly evolving early puberty (those that progressed more than one Tanner stage, in a period less than 6 months). Auxological data, imaging studies, serum levels of LH, FSH, and estradiol were measured. Results: The age of the 104 patients varied between 4.79 and 9.8 years (median 8.4 years). G1 included 34 patients (33%) and G2 :70 patients (67%); 48.1% of the total patients were overweight or obese. Significant differences were found between these two groups. About the values of E2 16 vs 28.7 pg/ml, P= 0.0379, maximum uterine length 38 vs 42 mm, P= 0.0416 and ovarian volume 2.1 vs 2.8 cc, P= 0.0213. In all cases, G2 presented higher values than group G1. In 18 of the 104 patients (17.3%) LH levels and in 38 of the 104 patients (36.5%) estradiol levels were in the prepubertal range. In these cases clinical evolution was decisive for the diagnosis of precocious or early puberty. Conclusion: Our data show girls with were newly diagnosed as central precocious puberty and those with a faster rate of pubertal progression during lockdown. The predominant number belongs to Group 2. . We hypothesize that triggering environmental factors, such as stress, BMI and the enhanced use of electronic devices during lockdown, might have a possible role in influencing puberty and its progression. It is important to emphasize the importance of clinical monitoring of puberty during and after this pandemic period.