Precocious puberty in a child: A rare cause and review of literature

Abstract

Precocious puberty (PP) in pediatric office practice is challenging as the cause varies from benign to malignant conditions. Adrenocortical tumors are rare in childhood and pseudo-precocious puberty is the most common clinical presentation in children. We report a case of a 5-year-old boy who presented with features of abdominal distention and virilization, and his abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an adrenal tumor which was confirmed as adrenocortical carcinoma by biopsy. This case report highlights the importance of the awareness among general practioners and pediatricians to rule out adrenocortical tumors while evaluating a child with PP.

Keywords

• adrenal tumors
• children
• precocious puberty