ESPE Abstracts

Human growth is a complex trait. A considerable number of gene defects have been shown to cause short stature, but there are only few examples of genetic causes of non-syndromic tall stature. Besides rare variants with large effects and common risk alleles with small effect size, oligogenic effects may contribute to this phenotype. Exome sequencing was carried out in a tall male (height 3.5 SDS) and his parents. Filtered damaging variants with high CADD scores were validated b...

Background: Infantile Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is an inborn error of metabolism characterized by low serum alkaline phosphatase activity caused by loss-of-function mutations within the ALPL-gene encoding the tissue nonspecific isoenzyme of ALP (TNSALP). TNSALP controls skeletal and dental mineralization by hydrolyzing inorganic pyrophosphate, a potent inhibitor of bone mineralization. Patients develop substantial skeletal disease, failure to thrive, and sometime...

Introduction: Primordial short stature can have many different causes. In addition to maternal factors (e.g. placental insufficiency), genetic or skeletal disorders may be found in the child. It is important to identify the underlying aetiology in time, since not only the risk of diabetes is increased, but also the prevalence of insufficient gonadal function and malignancy, e.g. in mixed gonadal dysgenesis (MGD).Case report: A 19 year old adolescent pres...

Current hormone substitution therapy of patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is suboptimal and cannot mimic physiological daily rhythms of hormone secretion. As supra-physiological corticoid doses are necessary to avoid adrenal androgen excess, patients show substantially increased comorbidities such as hyperglycemia, arterial hypertension, reduced growth and osteoporosis. Moreover plasma ACTH is often inadequately suppressed, resulting in undesired excess adrena...

Background: Triple A syndrome (alacrima, achalasia, adrenal failure, progressive neurodegenerative disease) is caused by mutations in the AAAS gene which encodes the protein ALADIN. Osteoporosis seems to be an overlooked symptom in triple A syndrome.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate etiology of osteoporosis in six male and four female patients with triple A syndrome.Method: X-ray, dual X-absorptiometry (DXA) of the lum...

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic led to regional lockdowns and restrictions associated with changes in lifestyle and quality of life (QoL) thus potentially burdening metabolic control in Diabetes Mellitus (DM). We examined whether the stages of restrictions lead to changes in QoL and metabolic control in children with DM.Methods: Starting in April 2020, this monocentric prospective longitudinal cohort study included c...

Background: Nerve conduction velocity (NCV) abnormalities are considered as early signs of peripheral neuropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). We investigated which determinants NCV is subject to and how it is related to markers of metabolic control.Methods: We included 51 patients treated at the outpatient clinic of paediatric diabetology because of their type 1 DM and randomly assigned them for a nerve condu...

Background: Triple A syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by adrenal failure, alacrima, achalasia, and a variety of neurological features. In 70% of the families it is caused by mutations in the AAAS gene. Linkage analyses indicated genetic heterogeneity and exome sequencing revealed two further genes causing triple A-like syndromes.Objective and hypotheses: To summarise the genotypes and phenotypes of classic triple A s...

Introduction: Despite improved therapy measures since 2014 the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Swiss adolescence stabilized on 19%. Particular challenges are lack of adherence to therapy in youth who are in difficult life situations or live further from specified centres. Therefore it is essential to find simple and novel therapeutic approaches. But although the number of digital based health information systems increases steadily, the effectiveness in reaching long te...

Background: Weight status in children is commonly defined using BMI (SDS), but this measure is problematic due to the skewness of the BMI distribution and its age-dependant increase. In addition, it is difficult for physicians or parents alike to grasp what a certain value means. Excess body weight (EBW) is frequently used in adult patients in the context of bariatric surgery.Objective and hypotheses: An appropriate definition for the paediatric populati...