Typology and Etiology of Precocious Puberty in Sub-Saharan Africa: Report of 8 Cases in Abidjan, Ivory Coast a

Introduction: Early puberty is defined by development of secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 8 years in girls and 9 years in boys. In the West, one in five children out of 100,000 is concerned. Little information on sub-Saharan African patients exists concerning this pathology. Objective: To determine the etiology and clinical characteristics of early puberty in a cohort of Ivorian children. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study between 2015 and 2017 in children admitted to early puberty in the unique Endocrinology Service of the country. The epidemiology and clinical characteristics were assessed. Results: The eight patients involved were all females. Their mean age at diagnosis was 7 years and 3 months and the mean age of first symptoms begun at 5 years and 6 months. Seven patients had a central precocious puberty (CPP) including five cases of idiopathic CPP (ICPP) treated by (GnRH agonist) and two cases with secondary precocious puberty (SPP). One of them has a hypothalamic hamartoma and the other a sequelae of encephalopathy. The last case had a peripheral precocious puberty (PPP) causes by ovarian dystrophy. Conclusion: Our results confirm the predominance of idiopathic central precocious puberty particularly in girls.