Self-Assessment Questions

30. Primary amenorrhea

• Define primary amenorrhea.

  Show Answer

  Correct answer:
  Primary amenorrhea is defined as failure to menstruate by age 16 in patients with normal secondary sexual characteristics or the failure to menstruate by age 14 in patients with no signs of sexual characteristics.

• What is the first step in diagnosing the underlying cause of primary amenorrhea?

  Show Answer

  Correct answer:
  As suggested in the definition, it is useful to assess the degree to which secondary sexual characteristics have developed in girls with absent menses. Failure of breast and pubic hair development is a sign of delayed or absent puberty and represents a specific subset of reproductive abnormalities.