SIX EXAMPLES OF PRECOCIOUS SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

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Abstract
A GENERAL discussion of the problems involved in precocious sexual development of children was presented by one of us (H. P. G. S.) in 1946.1 This publication and another one to follow are intended to amplify that general discussion with a presentation of 6 specific examples. The first of these publications deals with diagnostic and pathogenetic studies, while the second will be devoted to the aspects of growth and maturation in the same patients.2 From the beginning, it seems to be of paramount importance to recognize the borderline between pathologic "precocity" of sexual development and what may be termed physiologic "early" sexual development. A few observations on the latter group of children may be briefly recorded with a view to avoiding diagnostic pitfalls and the consequences of calling children abnormal who are exuberantly healthy. I. "EARLY" SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT In normal boys "early" sexual development is rarer than in