USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) Step 1 Practice Exam

How is precocious puberty typically treated?

1. Administering estrogen supplements

2. Using GnRH agonists

3. Surgical removal of ovaries

4. Increasing FSH secretion

The correct answer is: Using GnRH agonists

The treatment of precocious puberty primarily involves using GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone) agonists. These medications act by downregulating the pituitary gland's secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), leading to reduced stimulation of the ovaries or testes. As a result, this helps to slow the progression of premature sexual development and associated physical changes. Typically, GnRH agonists are administered to manage situations where the onset of secondary sexual characteristics occurs too early, usually before the age of nine in boys or before age eight in girls. By controlling hormone levels, the treatment can help normalize growth patterns and delay further physical developments until a more appropriate age. Other treatment options, such as administering estrogen supplements or increasing FSH secretion, do not address the underlying issue of early activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, and surgical removal of the ovaries is not a standard treatment for precocious puberty, as it would be an invasive approach and not aimed at managing the hormonal imbalance.