Characterization of early presentation idiopathic ovarian failure in girls and adolescents

This study focused retrospectively on a selected cohort of 20 adolescents with early onset premature ovarian failure (POF) and no apparent underlying cause, in order to characterize the idiopathic ovarian failure at pediatric age. This characterization was based on medical history, pedigree analysis, phenotypical and audiological evaluation, final and target heights, pelvic ultrasonography, endocrine assessment, routine hematochemical analyses and complete autoimmune screening. We found that: a) idiopathic POF presented either before or after puberty onset and also with secondary amenorrhea; b) final height prognosis was impaired only in patients with prepubertal presentation of POF; c) ovarian pattern at ultrasonography and endocrine picture were similar those previously reported in patients with adult onset POF; d) clinical history and pedigree analysis, phenotypical and audiological examination and complete autoimmune screening failed to highlight the existence of any possible cause for POF in 15/20 patients; e) no alterations of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol serum levels were detected in any patient. On the basis of these results we concluded that: a) final height of the adolescents with POF may be impaired only in patients in whom POF presents as a pubertal delay; b) other parameters do not generally differ from those described by previous reports on young adults with POF, except for serum lipid levels which were normal in the present cohort.