ESPE Abstracts

Background: Childhood tumours of the hypothalamic pituitary axis (HPATs) are very rare and hence any single centre experience is limited. Without evidence-based guidance, treatment is individualised on a case basis. Survival rates are high, but at the expense of significant morbidity. Centralised care or wider multi-professional consultation may improve neuroendocrine and visual outcomes.Objective and hypotheses: i) To facilitate multi-professional dialo...

Background: Diabetes insipidus (DI) is a well-recognized post neuro surgical complication arising after hypothalamic-pituitary surgery. DI occurring in the post-operative period can be transient happening within 24–48 hour of surgery, secondary to trauma to the connections between the magnocellular bodies and the nerve terminals in the posterior pituitary, or to axonal shock from disturbances in the vascular supply to the pituitary stalk and posterior pituitary.<p cla...

Introduction: Proton beam therapy (PBT) is being used increasingly for craniopharyngioma, as it is perceived to be a major benefit. There are some limited data relating to endocrine dysfunction following PBT, but very limited data on hypothalamic disturbance. Here we report two patients who presented with hypothalamic disruption immediately following PBT for craniopharyngioma.Case 1: A 12 year old girl presented with sei...

Background: Disruption of homeostatic functioning of the hypothalamic centres results in hyperphagia, autonomic imbalance, reduction of energy expenditure, and hyperinsulinemia. A syndrome of rapid, unrelenting weight gain is often observed in patients with structural lesions of the hypothalamus. Hypothalamic obesity syndrome (HOS) is often refractory to standard dietary and lifestyle interventions. It has been reported that metformin induces anorectic effects via an increase ...

Background: Foramen magnum stenosis (FMS) is a common, serious complication of achondroplasia in infancy. The Achondroplasia Foramen Magnum Score (AFMS; 1-4) was developed to facilitate early detection of stenosis and inform appropriate neurosurgical management. All infants have a baseline screening MRI, of which approximately half of cases demonstrate AFMS3 (craniovertebral junction (CVJ) narrowing with flattening of the cervical cord) or AFMS4 (CVJ narrowing...

Introduction: Pituitary adenoma (PA) in childhood is a rare disease, accounting for 3 % of all intracranial paediatric neoplasm, and between 3 to 6% of all PA. There are only few large studies describing paediatric pituitary adenoma and even fewer studies with long-term outcome.Methods: In this retrospective study, clinical, biochemical and radiological parameters and outcome of paediatric patients (<16 years...

Aims: Although rare, craniopharyngiomas are the commonest suprasellar tumour in childhood. Despite high overall survival, children and young people <19 years with craniopharyngiomas are at risk of multiple relapses and long-term tumour- and treatment-related neuroendocrine, cognitive and visual morbidity. A recent international survey highlighted the considerable variation in management strategies employed for these tumours, and the lack of any evidence- a...

Introduction: Childhood obesity is associated with several complications, involving many systems. The prevalence of respiratory problems, such as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), is higher in obese children and adolescents. In fact, OSAS affects 13–59% of obese children and the severity is strongly associated with weight excess. Although overnight pulse oximetry (PO) can be used for diagnosing OSAS, a complete night polysomnography (PSG), which re...