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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Pediatric Endocrinology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1496554

Magnetic Resonance Imaging -based radiomics of the pituitary gland is highly predictive of precocious puberty in girls: a pilot study

Provisionally accepted
Michele Maddalo Michele Maddalo 1Maddalena Petraroli Maddalena Petraroli 2Francesca Ormitti Francesca Ormitti 3Alice Fulgoni Alice Fulgoni 4Margherita Gnocchi Margherita Gnocchi 4Marco Masetti Marco Masetti 4Eugenia Borgia Eugenia Borgia 4Benedetta Piccolo Benedetta Piccolo 2Emanuela C Turco Emanuela C Turco 2Viviana D Patianna Viviana D Patianna 2Nicola Sverzellati Nicola Sverzellati 4Susanna MR Esposito Susanna MR Esposito 5Caterina Ghetti Caterina Ghetti 1Maria Elisabeth Street Maria Elisabeth Street 5*
  • 1 Medical Physiscs, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
  • 2 Unit of Paediatrics, P. Barilla Children’s Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliero, Universitaria of Parma, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
  • 3 Neuroradiology Unit, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
  • 4 Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
  • 5 Unit of Paediatrics, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University and University Hospital of Parma,, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and of the hypothalamic-pituitary region is currently required to exclude central organic causes within the diagnostic flow-chart for central precocious puberty (CPP) with discussion on whether all age-groups should receive such investigation. Currently, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding substantial evidence supporting a role of MRI radiomics in the diagnostic workup of CPP. In this study, we developed a machine learning model utilizing MRI radiomics of the pituitary gland to differentiate between girls with CPP compared with age-matched control subjects. The radiomic model reflected the changes that the pituitary gland undergoes during pubertal development related with the proliferation of gonodotrophs and increased secretion of hormones. These results offer novel insights into a potential use of MRI in this area opening the way to a paradigm shift in the diagnostic approach to CPP, potentially reducing or eliminating the need of the GnRH stimulation test.

    Keywords: Formal analysis, investigation, Software, Validation, visualization, Writing -original draft, Writing -review & editing. Benedetta Piccolo: Data curation, methodology

    Received: 14 Sep 2024; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Maddalo, Petraroli, Ormitti, Fulgoni, Gnocchi, Masetti, Borgia, Piccolo, Turco, Patianna, Sverzellati, Esposito, Ghetti and Street. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Maria Elisabeth Street, Unit of Paediatrics, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University and University Hospital of Parma,, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.