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Male Puberty: What Is Normal and Abnormal?

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Abstract

Puberty is a pivotal time in an adolescent’s life. Knowing when puberty is precocious or delayed is important to correctly diagnose and treat abnormalities. Being able to appropriately check the progression of puberty is a foundation for reaching the correct diagnosis. Precocious puberty is generally accepted as a testicular volume ≥4 ml prior to 9 years of age, and delayed puberty is the lack of testicular growth by 14 years of age. Causes of precocious puberty include both gonadotropin-dependent (central) and gonadotropin-independent (peripheral) etiologies, and treatment varies according to the etiology. Delayed puberty also has multiple causes, including primary gonadal abnormalities such as testicular injury, and numerous causes of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, both congenital and acquired. Constitutional delay of growth and puberty is a particularly common etiology of delayed puberty. It is usually benign, but affected boys may benefit from a short course of testosterone. Correctly ascertaining the etiology of delayed puberty will direct the appropriate therapy. While precocious or delayed puberty may be benign, some causes are serious, making the need to understand this topic important for physicians.

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  1. Section of Pediatric Endocrinology, Indiana University, 705 Riley Hospital Dr. Room 5960, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    David W. Hansen MD, MPH & John S. Fuqua MD

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  1. Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (SBEM), HumaitĂ¡, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Alexandre Hohl

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Hansen, D.W., Fuqua, J.S. (2017). Male Puberty: What Is Normal and Abnormal?. In: Hohl, A. (eds) Testosterone. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46086-4_5

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