True precocious puberty: a long-term complication in children with shunted non-tumoral hydrocephalus

In 4/37 (10.8%) children, adolescents and young adults with successfully shunted hydrocephalus, puberty occurred or was occurring precociously, at an age ranging from 7.5 to 8.6 years, with a consequent impairment of their effective or predicted adult height as compared to the familial target height. All four patients had undergone a surgical intervention for the insertion of a ventricular-atrial or a ventricular-peritoneal shunt during the first year of life; since the last surgical shunt revision (at the age of 5 years) no relapse of hydrocephalus had been recorded. The authors conclude that precocious puberty is to be regarded as a not infrequent long-term complication in patients with successfully shunted hydrocephalus.