GnRH stimulation Test in precocious puberty: Single sample is adequate for diagnosis and dose adjustment

Objective: gonadotropin stimulation test is the gold standard to document precocious puberty. however,the test is costly,timeconsuming and uncomfortable. the aim of this study was to simplify the intravenous gonadotropin-releasing hormone (gnrh) stimulation test in the diagnosis of precocious puberty and in the assessment of pubertal suppression. methods: data pertaining to 584 gnrh stimulation tests (314 tests for diagnosis and 270 for assessment of pubertal suppression) were analyzed. results: forty-minute post-injection samples had the greatest frequency of peaking luteinizing hormone (lh) (p<0.001) in the diagnostic tests when the cut-off value was taken as 5 iu/l for lh,40th minute sample was found to have 98% sensitivity and 100% specificity in the diagnosis of precocious puberty,while the sensitivity and specificity of the 20 th minute sample was 100% in the assessment of pubertal suppression. conclusion: lh level at the 40 th minute post-injection in the diagnosis of central precocious puberty and at the 20 th minute post-injection in the assessment of pubertal suppression is highly sensitive and specific. a single sample at these time points can be used in the diagnosis of early puberty and in the assessment of pubertal suppression. © journal of clinical research in pediatric endocrinology,published by galenos publishing.