Swedish cohort study found that half of the girls with shunted hydrocephalus had precocious or early puberty

Abstract

Aim: We aimed to evaluate the occurrence of, and risk factors for precocious and early puberty in a retrospective cohort study of girls with shunted infantile hydrocephalus.

Methods: The study population comprised 82 girls with infantile hydrocephalus, born between 1980 and 2002, and treated with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Data were available for 39 girls with myelomeningocele and 34 without. Medical records were analysed regarding clinical data and timing of puberty. Precocious and early puberty was defined as the appearance of pubertal signs before 8 years and 0 months and 8 years and 9 months, respectively.

Results: Median age at last admission was 15.8 years (range 10.0-18.0). In total, 15 girls (21%) had precocious puberty, and another 21 (29%) had early puberty. Three or more shunt revisions had been performed in 26/36 girls with early or precocious puberty and in 3/37 girls without (p = 0.01). The number of shunt revisions correlated negatively with age at the start of puberty in the girls with myelomeningocele (Spearman's correlation coefficient = -0.512, p = 0.001).

Conclusion: Girls with shunted infantile hydrocephalus have a high risk of precocious or early puberty. Repeated shunt revisions seemed to be associated with early puberty.

Keywords: hydrocephalus; myelomeningocele; puberty; ventriculoperitoneal shunt; girls.