Age of onset of puberty in chilean boys according to testicular volume and tanner stage La pubertad en niños chilenos muestra un adelantamiento en el inicio del crecimiento testicular

© 2015, Rev Med Chile. All rights reserved. Background A secular trend towards a younger age of puberty onset has been reported in Chilean girls. Aim: To evaluate the age of onset of puberty and prevalence of early puberty in Chilean boys. Material and Methods: A pediatric endocrinologist examined 319 children attending schools in central Santiago. Pubertal development was assessed by testicular volume (TV) and genital inspection (GI) using Tanner graduation. Precocious and early puberty development was diagnosed if TV ≥ 4 ml or GI > stage 2 occurred in boys younger than 9 years and at 9-10 years of age, respectively. Results: Pubertal onset occurred at 10.2 ± 1.5 years according to TV and at 11.1 ± 1.6 years according to GI (p < 0.01). Before the age of nine, 15.2% of children had a VT ≥ 4 ml, 3% had genital changes in GI and only 3% had both changes simultaneously. Early puberty was observed in 23.8% of children according to TV and 9.5% according to GI. However, no child of less tha