ESPE Abstracts

Background: Paragangliomas are rare tumours that originate from neural crest cells. Diagnosing and managing patients with paragangliomas pose several challenges.Objective: We investigated whether MECP2 defects are associated with an idiopathic CPP phenotype with or without mild neurodevelopmental abnormalities.Clinical presentation: A 14-year-old female presented with cons...

Background: Precocious puberty is defined as breast development before 8 years in girls and gonad development before 9 years in boys. Central precocious puberty (CPP) results from early activation of the hypothalamic-gonadal axis. One third of idiopathic CPP is reported to be familial. Genetic mutations were initially described in kiss-peptin-1 (KISS1) and its receptor (KISS1R). More recently, Abreu et al identified heterogeneous mutations in the makorin RING finger 3 (MKRN3) ...

Background: Weight loss interventions for obesity have shown variable short-term effects in adolescents and children, but data on longer-term benefits are sparse.Aim: To describe longer-term impact of lifestyle weight loss interventions in adolescent obesity.Method: Obese subjects previously underwent lifestyle weight loss interventions at a hospital-based clinic were invited to participate in metabolic re-assessment. Outcome measu...

Background: The optimal method to assess GH status remains controversial. GH provocation tests are used and the Insulin Tolerance Test (ITT) is regarded as the ‘gold standard’ to diagnose GH deficiency (GHD). The original selection of 0, 20, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min time points is still used in many protocols worldwide, but variations have evolved.Objective and hypotheses: Comparing standard ITT (StdITT) to a revised (RevITT) protocol.<p clas...

Background: Hypothalamic obesity (HO), defined as abnormal weight gain due to physical hypothalamic destruction, for example due to suprasellar tumours, is characterised by significant hyperphagia, lack of satiety, and rapid weight gain in the first year of hypothalamic insult. HO is not usually responsive to caloric restriction or lifestyle modification, and no pharmacotherapies are specifically approved for treating HO. GLP-1 agonists, which suppress appetit...

Background: There is limited reporting of the impact of genital difference on early childhood experience, although the young person’s viewpoint should be at the core of patient centred clinical decision making. The experience of girls living with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) may differ according to context, being influenced by interactions within the family, with specialist teams as well as prevailing social values. Clearly there is a need to inv...

Background: The internet provides a multitude of health information. Understanding disorders/differences of sex development (DSD) can be difficult for families partly due to their complexity and relatively low prevalence. Consequently, families may use the internet to gain understanding of their child's condition, however the quality of this information has not been formally assessed.Aims: To assess the quality, vali...

17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17-beta-HSD3) deficiency is an autosomal recessive 46XY disorder of sex development (DSD), which results in impaired gonadal androstenedione conversion to testosterone. The phenotype ranges from female to ambiguous genitalia, with wolffian-duct structures and testes. HCG stimulation tests assess testosterone biosynthesis, though biochemical results in confirmed 17-beta-HSD3 deficiency may overlap with gonadal dysgenesis making diagnosis ch...

Controversy continues regarding surgery in infancy to address atypical genitalia in girls with CAH and other Disorders of Sex Development. There is no consensus to surgical approach. Interest in outcomes of the range of surgical and non-surgical interventions for genital diversity is growing. It is widely acknowledged that the multi-professional management to promote long term psychosocial adaptation of the child based partly on confident parenting is essential. We conducted a...

It is acknowledged that children should collaborate in research about their health conditions, and DSD research has been criticised for promoting views of parents and health professionals. However parents are concerned about professionals talking to children about sensitive subjects including fertility and sexual activity. Children may have little experience of talking about their sex development. This makes direct research involving children with DSD particularly challenging....