ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Pituitary stalk thickening (PST) is a rare disease and can cause hormonal deficits and/or mass effect. The most frequent causes in pediatric age are germ cell tumors (GCT) and Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). Hypophysitis with extension to the stalk is extremely rare in pediatric patients. The aimis to describe 4 pediatric patients which were first diagnosed as hypophysitis but final diagnosis was GCT.Clinical C...

Introduction: Craniopharyngioma (CP) is a rare and highly recurrent tumor with no available nationwide data.Objective: This retrospective study aims to characterize patients with CP treated at a national referral center.Methods: Clinical records of patients aged 18 years or younger diagnosed with CP were analyzed. Data including clinical presentation, biochemical profiles, MRI find...

Background: Recent studies in multiple models of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) have demonstrated the role of mitochondrial abnormalities in the pathogenesis of this disease and its complications. Humanin is a potent cyto-protective and ‘metaboloprotective’ molecule in vitro and in vivo, including the protection of β cells from apoptosis, improvements in insulin secretion and action, and both prevention and treatment of diabetes in the NOD mou...

Introduction: Pituitary stalk thickening (PST) is a rare condition in pediatric patients. As there are few studies published in pediatric population, the definition has been difficult to establish. The etiologies involved in PST can be divided in neoplastic, congenital, inflammatory/infectious or autoimmune diseases. In children the most frequent causes are neoplastic, followed by congenital lesions. The inflammatory/infectious and autoimmune diseases are rare...

Background: FGF21 is a metabolic and growth regulator.Aim: To investigate the role of FGF21 during growth in infancy.Methods: Cohort of 40 term (T) and 40 preterm (PT) newborns whose length and weight were evaluated prospectively at birth, 6 months, and 12 months. Blood samples for FGF21, IGF1, leptin, insulin and glucose were collected at 6 and 12 months. In addition, FGF21, I GF-I, leptin, and insulin were measured in cord blood ...

Introduction: Pituitary gigantism in children is a rare condition that results from excessive production of growth hormone (GH). The most common cause of gigantism is GH secreting pituitary adenomas, thart arise from excessive proliferation of somatotropic cells in the anterior portion of the pituitary gland. The described pediatric incidence is 3-8 cases per 1 million population. There are genetic syndromes associated with GH excess, especially in pediatric p...

Background: Familiar isolated pituitary adenomas (FIPA) encompasses the familiar occurrence of isolated pituitary adenomas outside the setting of syndromic conditions such as MEN1 and Carney’s complex, and comprise about 2–3% of pituitary adenomas. About 20% of FIPA have mutations in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein gene (AIP), usually associated with a worse outcome.Objective and hypotheses: Evaluate the presence of AIP gene m...

Introduction: Obesity is associated with comorbidities such as hypertension (HTN), and other alterations in blood pressure (BP) such as: masked hypertension and alterations in the circadian cycle variability, that only can be detect through ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).A higher prevalence of masked hypertension has been reported in obese subjects, up to 4.3%. Also a loss in drop from mean daytime to mean night-time lev...

Introduction: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) is a biochemical condition characterized by serum levels of TSH above the reference range upper limit (4,5μUI/mL), with normal concentrations of thyroid hormones. In cases of non-autoimmune subclinical hypothyroidism (NASHT), genetic defects have been described and can determine disorders in the biosynthesis process of thyroid hormones, such as heterozygous mutations in the TSH receptor gene (TSHR) and ...

Background: Emerging data suggest that ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring for 24 h may be efficient in the diagnosis of hypertension in adults, children and adolescents. Additionally, in adults, it may predict the existence of some early BP abnormalities related to cardiovascular risk: (a) elevated BP load (>25%) and (b) non-dipping (BP decrease in night-time <10%).Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the presence of early BP abnormalitie...