ESPE Abstracts

Background: Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is characterized by a switch from failure to thrive to excessive weight gain and hyperphagia with impaired satiety in early childhood. An elevated, more unfavorable ratio between acylated:unacylated ghrelin (AG:UAG) may be involved in the underlying mechanisms of this switch.Objective and hypotheses: To assess the evolution of the appetite regulating hormones AG, UAG, and the AG:UAG ratio in infants with PWS a...

Background: There are limited data on differences in height, bone mineral density (BMD) and pubertal delay between homozygous and heterozygous carriers of IGFALS defects.Objective and hypotheses: To describe clinical and laboratory features and BMD of homozygous and heterozygous carriers of a novel IGFALS mutation in a large Kurdish family.Method: Index cases were two first degree cousins presenting with short stature, low IGF1, ve...

Background: Previously we showed that pubertal children born small for gestational age (SGA) with a poor adult height (AH) expectation can benefit from treatment with GH 1 mg/m2 per day (~0.033 mg/kg per day) in combination with 2 years of GnRH analogue (GnRHa) and even more so with a double GH dose. GnRHa treatment is thought to have negative effects on body composition and blood pressure. Long-term effects and GH-dose effects on metabolic health in children treate...

Background: In salt wasting congenital adrenal hyperplasia (SW-CAH) patients suffer from a deficiency of both cortisol and aldosterone and develop life-threatening salt wasting crises neonatally. Treatment consists of glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids and salt supplementation. We present a case with a two years delayed diagnosis of SW-CAH.Case presentation: The patient was admitted to the hospital at the age of two weeks because of poor feeding, irrita...

Background: Type 1 diabetes may have an influence on concentration, attention and behaviour. These effects are relevant, as they may affect school performance and later career options for paediatric diabetes patients.Objective and hypotheses: This study examined attention, concentration and behavioural difficulties in diabetic children aged 5–13 years and their association with hypoglycaemic episodes and HbA1c.Method: 48 child...

Background: Short stature homeobox (SHOX)-related haploinsufficiency is associated with a wide clinical variability, all characterized by growth failure with or without mesomelia and/or Madelung deformity. In patients, the effect of GH therapy on final height is comparable to the effect that can be obtained in Turner syndrome. The majority of the patients with SHOX-related haploinsufficiency disorder have deletions of varying sizes in SHOX. Point mutations in SHOX account for ...

Background: In mammals, maternal glucocorticoids are transmitted through breast milk, particularly under stressful circumstances. In humans, it is unclear whether milk cortisol levels are dependent on stressful perinatal circumstances, such as preterm birth.Objective and hypotheses: Our aim was to compare cortisol concentrations in breast milk of mothers of very preterm infants (GA <32 weeks) to breast milk cortisol concentrations of mothers of full-...

Background: Peak stimulated growth hormone (GH) levels are known to decrease with increasing BMI, possibly leading to overdiagnosis of GH deficiency (GHD) in children with overweight and obesity. However, current guidelines do not provide guidance how to interpret peak GH values of these children. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to study the effect of BMI standard deviation score (SDS) on stimulated peak GH values in children, to identi...

Background: For early identification of patients requiring adherence support, objective, real-time adherence data are needed. The easypod™ electromechanical injection device, in combination with the easypod™ connect ecosystem, electronically records and transmits, in real time, accurate records of the date, time and dose injected for patients receiving recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) to treat growth disorders. Healthcare professionals can us...

Background: Patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) are treated with life-long glucocorticoid (GC) replacement therapy. Negative effects on cognition, brain structure and function during working memory tasks have been identified. To date, no studies on functional connectivity during rest have been performed in patients with CAH. One study conducted on patients with Cushing’s syndrome, another disorder of cortisol imbalance, suggests that long-t...