Pineal cysts in children with precocious puberty: Is it a coincidental finding?

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the correlation between precocious puberty and pineal cysts in children. Materials and methods: The brain MRI scans of 122 patients with precocious puberty and 122 children in control group were evaluated for the presence and size of pineal cysts. Pineal cysts were assessed as true cyst and cystic transformation in terms of their sizes. The presence of pineal cysts/cystic transformation was compared between the two groups. In the precocious puberty group, the baseline and peak LH levels of patients with pineal cyst, cystic transformation and no cyst-cystic transformation were compared. Results: The chi-square test indicated no significant correlation between precocious puberty and pineal cyst, and between precocious puberty and pineal cystic transformation (p=0.2537 and p=0.8797 respectively). There was no significant difference in the basale and peak LH levels between the patients with pineal cyst, cystic transformation and no cyst-cystic transformation in the precocious puberty group (p=0.566 and p= 0.367 respectively). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, there was no correlation between pineal cysts and precocious puberty. Therefore, it is a correct approach to accept pineal cysts detected in MRI scans as incidental findings in cases with precocious puberty.

Keywords

• precocious puberty
• pineal cyst
• melatonina
• magnetic resonance imaging
• erken puberte
• pineal kist
• melatonin
• manyetik rezonans görüntüleme