Chapter 466 - 343: Ruling Out, Unusual Precocious Puberty

"Hello, I’m Zhang Chi from the Shunxin Police Station."

One of the older policemen walked up to Qin Feng and extended his hand,

"Director Qin, it’s like this..."

The officer explained the situation briefly. After listening, Qin Feng also looked serious and turned to Zhang Qingquan,

"Have you contacted the gynecology department?"

"Already contacted, they’ll be here soon."

Zhang Qingquan nodded.

"Good, we’ll conduct a comprehensive examination for the child immediately."

Qin Feng looked at the couple,

"Dr. Zhang, please call for a mobile stretcher and arrange a separate examination room."

"I’ll take care of it right away."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qingquan quickly left the room.

"Thank you, Director."

The young couple expressed their gratitude to Qin Feng.

Qin Feng glanced at the little girl in the woman’s arms, frowning slightly.

This matter is indeed very serious. She’s only 8 years old. If she really encountered such a heinous act, it would be a nightmare for her life.

Moreover, in most cases with such young children, the perpetrator is usually someone familiar.

The evildoer must be punished accordingly!

Soon,

The doctors from gynecology arrived, and the child was taken to a separate examination room.

The police and Qin Feng waited outside, leaving only the child’s mother inside the examination room with her.

Inside the examination room,

The girl’s clothes were removed for a detailed physical examination, followed by a bedside ultrasound scan.

About a dozen minutes later, the obstetrician came out.

"How’s my daughter?"

The father immediately stepped forward.

"Please don’t worry for now."

The female gynecologist raised her hand and said, then looked at Qin Feng,

"Director Qin, can we talk privately for a moment?"

"Alright."

Qin Feng nodded and the two stepped aside.

"How is it, Dr. Xu?"

"The situation is not usual. I conducted a detailed examination and didn’t find any external trauma. The hymen is intact, completely unlike a case of violent assault."

The obstetrics doctor looked puzzled and then explained the examination results.

"No?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Feng was stunned.

Although this result was good news for the girl, it also left everyone puzzled.

"However, I did notice another issue during the examination."

Dr. Xu continued.

"What issue?"

"The little girl is showing signs of early development. I suspect it could be precocious puberty, but I can’t be sure without further examination."

"Precocious puberty..."

Qin Feng fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

The little girl is only 8 years old. If it’s precocious puberty, isn’t it a bit too early?

However, if there’s no damage caused by violent behavior, then the range of causes for the bleeding narrows considerably.

Precocious puberty is not impossible!

To put it simply, precocious puberty is caused by hormonal imbalance leading to early entrance into puberty, accelerating linear body growth.

However, due to rapid development and early closure of growth plates, it ultimately results in short stature, and in severe cases, can even affect intellectual development.

Of course, this possibility is relatively small, but it cannot be ruled out.

"Alright, I understand. Thank you, Dr. Xu."

"No problem, I’ll head back now, Director Qin."

Xu Li smiled and nodded before leaving. Qin Feng then returned to stand with the others.

"Director Qin, how is my daughter?"

The father grabbed his arm anxiously.

"Here’s the situation: our examination results show that your daughter did not experience any violent behavior. We preliminarily judge that it’s not what you feared."

Qin Feng shook his head and then informed everyone of the results,

"However, as for the cause of the bleeding, we need further examination to see if it’s indicative of another issue.

I think this result is something you’ll be relieved to hear; your daughter is not what you feared."

"Not...?"

Upon hearing this result, the man stood dumbfounded,

"Then... if not violence, what could be the reason?"

"We need to conduct further checks. There are many possible causes for bleeding, and we need to confirm the examination results for a final diagnosis."

Qin Feng explained,

"Dr. Zhang, contact the pediatric and endocrinology departments."

"Okay."

Zhang Qingquan immediately went to contact doctors from the two departments.

The woman, holding her child, also walked out of the examination room, dumbfounded by the result but also relieved, and once again worried.

After all, they have not yet determined the cause of their daughter’s bleeding. If not that, then what could it be?

As for the two police officers, they left as well.

After completing their records, they need to arrange the handling of this case.

Because the hospital’s examination results differ from the couple’s assumptions, they still need to wait for further developments.

If not, they can close the case.

...

Soon, chief doctors from pediatrics and endocrinology arrived.

They prioritized conducting a physical examination to assess the girl’s development and judge her bone age and organ development.

"Dr. Zhang, please call the laboratory and ask them, if possible and without affecting normal test results, to prioritize the results of the six hormones test for us."

Qin Feng said to Zhang Qingquan beside him.

Hormone six panel: includes checks for estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone, primarily used to assess the developmental hormone levels in the body.

Additionally, there were tests for serum sex hormone levels, gonadotropin levels, LHRH stimulation tests, vaginal cytology, ultrasounds, X-rays, and MRI scans.

Even though the girl’s bone age and physical examination suggested early development, a more complex assessment is needed to conclusively diagnose precocious puberty.

Diagnosis usually involves three steps:

The first step is to establish if it is indeed precocious puberty;

The second is to determine if it’s central or peripheral precocious puberty;

The third is to identify the cause. The diagnostic process of idiopathic precocious puberty mainly involves ruling out other causes, particularly distinguishing it from tumors of the central nervous system, adrenal glands, gonads, and liver.

The aim now is to clarify the cause of the girl’s precocious puberty.

"Director Qin, why does my daughter need so many examinations?"

The woman, seeing the continuous flow of examination reports, grew increasingly anxious and her face turned red,

"Is there something wrong with her body?"

"Madam, please don’t be alarmed. Our initial assessment is that your daughter might be experiencing precocious puberty."

Qin Feng glanced at some of the reports, already having a preliminary grasp of the cause.

But he needed to await the final report to confirm the diagnosis!

Even though he was aware of the underlying cause, there was no urgency. It was necessary to wait until everything became certain before proceeding with surgery.

"What did you say? Precocious puberty?!"

The woman was taken aback, having no concept of it at all.

"Yes, to put it simply, your daughter is developing at an age when she shouldn’t be. We need to wait for the test results to determine the cause of this development."

Qin Feng nodded.

"But... isn’t early development in children a good thing?"

The woman seemed confused and even somewhat puzzled.

"Developing early means completing development early, which results in the growth plates closing sooner. Consequently, her height could be lower compared to her peers.

Moreover, children cannot comprehend or manage on their own, which can easily result in psychological harm, do you understand?"

While Qin Feng found the woman’s thinking somewhat amusing, he understood her concerns.

After all, he was a doctor, but laypeople are not!

Patients and their families generally lack knowledge and understanding of diseases, which can cause communication difficulties and misunderstandings between doctors and patients.

Sometimes, patients and their families, not grasping the severity, may instigate doctor-patient conflicts and disputes.

Ultimately, doctors choose to avoid conflict, and non-cooperation becomes inconsequential; patients feel that doctors are deliberately deceiving and want treatment according to their own ideas.

At last, after the consent form is signed, any non-hospital-related responsibility can be faced externally.

Indifference exists on both sides!

The root of this indifference is human nature, which cannot be easily resolved by a simple change in rules.

...

Inside the examination room,

"Director Qin, we can now confirm that the child indeed has precocious puberty."

The endocrinologist handed all reports to Qin Feng and said.

"Yes, I understand that. What’s the cause?"

"The full-body CT will be available soon."

"No need to wait, have the department focus on the brain and send it directly."

Qin Feng was feeling somewhat impatient and saw no need to delay further.

He had just conducted a thorough physical examination on the girl and had already identified the problematic area.

The culprit causing the girl’s precocious puberty was in her brain.