Parents of a 7-year-old girl are concerned about their daughter because she has begun to develop secondary sexual characteristics. what etiologic factor is most likely to underlie the child's condition?

Increase in gonadotropins and related sex steroids far above normal levels.

Explanation:

Precocious puberty is the development of pubertal changes at an age younger than the accepted lower limits for age of onset of puberty i.e before age 8 years in girls and age 9 years in boys.

The Hypothalamus, Pituitary and Gonad axis (HPG) undergoes early maturation. This results in increase of gonadotropins like Luteinizing Hormone (LH) and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH).

History should be sought for information about the onset of the signs and progression rate to help treatment