ESPE Abstracts

Background: Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is characterised by progressive muscle weakness, resulting from loss of anterior horn cells in the spinal cord and the brain stem nuclei. Survival motor neuron levels (SMN) are reduced due to mutations in the SMN1 gene. SMN function has been implicated in poor bone health. SMA is classified according to age of onset and clinical course accordingly: type 0 (prenatal), type 1 (onset <6 months, severe, never sit unsupported), type 2 (...

Background: Boys affected with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) have lower bone mineral density compared with unaffected boys.Objective and hypotheses: We sought to determine the effects on bone mineral density (BMD) of 1 year treatment with Risedronate and calcium/vitamin D supplementation vs calcium/vitamin D supplementation alone.Method: BMD was measured at spine and whole body. We obtained early morning fasting blood samples f...

Over the past decade, work from our research group has demonstrated that over-expression or activation of the chaperone protein heat shock protein 72 (HSP72; the inducible form of the 70kDa family of heat shock proteins) in skeletal muscle reduces obesity-induced insulin resistance (for review see). These findings led to the development of the small molecule activator of HSP72, namely BGP-15 which, in pre-clinical studies, has proven to be effective in the treatment of several...

Background: Premature thelarche is the isolated breast development in girls <8 years of age unaccompanied by other signs of puberty including advanced bone age or growth spurt. The GnRH stimulation test is used to distinguish between premature thelarche and central precocious puberty.Objective and hypotheses: We studied accuracy of the gonadotropin responses to GnRH stimulation in predicting pubertal progression in children diagnosed with premature t...

Background: Jansen’s Metaphyseal Chondrodysplasia is a rare autosomal dominant condition caused by activating mutations in the parathyroid hormone/parathyroid hormone related peptide receptor (PTH1R). It is associated with persistent PTH-independent hypercalcemia and hypercalciuria from an early age. Our patient, a 2 year old boy with genetically proven Jansen’s Metaphyseal Chondrodysplasia, developed bilateral medullary nephrocalcinosis secondary to persistent hyper...

Introduction: Infantile Arterial Calcification (IAC) is a rare and frequently lethal condition. Children who survive the infantile period may develop fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) mediated hypophosphatemia and rickets when IAC is due to mutations in the ENPP1 gene.Case: We present a female patient born to a family whose previous child died at birth with extensive vascular calcifications. Akin to the first sibling, our case presented with e...

Background: Small for gestational age (SGA) without subsequent catch up growth is an indication for GH treatment in Europe, the US, and Korea but not in Australia. However, many SGA are likely to be included under the ‘short stature and slow growth’ (SSSG) indication. It is unknown to what extent children born SGA are included in the Australian indications or how they differ from non-SGA patients within each indication and gender.Objective and ...

Background: In the past few years, new genes involved with familial predisposition to pituitary tumour development have been recognised, including AIP and SDHx. These factors are likely to underestimate the occurrence of familial pituitary tumour predisposition, commonly thought to account for 5% of all pituitary tumours. Furthermore, the clinical management of aggressive pituitary tumours is challenging, particularly when tumours exhibit resistance to standa...

Introduction: In pediatric years, the most common cause of primary adrenal insufficiency is congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Current Endocrine Society guidelines advocate for the use of perioperative supraphysiologic (often referred to as ‘stress dose’) glucocorticoids for children with primary adrenal insufficiency undergoing general anesthesia or surgery. We perceived a difference in practice patterns amongst pediatric subspeci...

Introduction: Neonatal ambiguous genitalia can herald sensitive, time-critical, and life-threatening diagnoses and thus paediatric doctors must be competent in their management. However, ambiguous genitalia are rare, limiting clinical exposure. We assessed paediatric doctors’ experience of, knowledge of, and confidence in managing this condition.Methods: A questionnaire was circulated to paediatric doctors at two tertiary and four secondary level pa...