Fifty two girls with isolated breast enlargement, observed in our Paediatric Endocrinology Unit during the past 10 years, were selected for our study on the basis of the following criteria: age at onset of thelarche under 7 years; breast development corresponding to Tanner stage B2 or B3; absence of pubic and axillary hair, vaginal bleeding, or other signs of sexual maturation; bone age within 2 SDs when plotted against chronological age; no history of oestrogen intake through drugs, ointments, or food; no signs of oestrogen secreting tumours; no evidence of true precocious puberty detected by luteinising hormone releasing hormone test (namely, peak values of luteinising hormone greater than 15 mU/ml, according to our laboratory).Of these 52 patients, three subsequently developed true precocious puberty and were thus excluded; nine girls were lost to the follow up; and the remaining 40 girls were followed up for periods ranging between two and eight years.
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