To identify whether a child is entering puberty, a pediatrician (a physician specializing in the treatment of children) will carefully examine the following:
- In girls, the growth of pubic hair and breasts
- In boys, the increase in size of the testicles and penis and the growth of pubic hair
The pediatrician will compare what he or she finds against the Tanner scale, a 5-point scale that gauges the extent of puberty development in children.1,2
Precocious Puberty
After giving a child a complete physical examination and analyzing his or her medical history, a healthcare provider may perform tests to diagnose precocious puberty, including3:
- A blood test to check the level of hormones, such as the gonadotropins (luteinizing hormone [LH] and follicle-stimulating hormone [FSH]), estradiol, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), and thyroid hormones
- A gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) stimulation test, which can tell whether a child's precocious puberty is gonadotropin-dependent or gonadotropin-independent
- Measuring blood 17-hydroxyprogesterone to test for congenital adrenal hyperplasia
- A "bone age" Xray to determine if bones are growing at a normal rate
The healthcare provider may also use imaging techniques to rule out a tumor or other organ abnormality as a cause. These imaging methods may include:
- Ultrasound (sonography) to examine the gonads. An ultrasound painlessly creates an image on a computer screen of blood vessels and tissues, allowing a healthcare provider to monitor organs and blood flow in real time
- An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan of the brain and pituitary gland using an instrument that produces detailed images of organs and bodily structures
Delayed Puberty
To diagnose hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, a healthcare provider may prescribe these tests 3:
- Blood tests to measure hormone levels
- Blood tests to measure if the pituitary gland can correctly respond to GnRH
- An MRI of the brain and pituitary gland
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