ESPE Abstracts

Purpose: Patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) show low fitness levels before GH treatment is started. Muscular strength, flexibility and postural stability are related to health and quality of life. Since it is widely recognized that physical activity increases GH secretion and GH could ameliorate fitness, if a high adherence to treatment is documented (1), the purpose of this study is to investigate any difference on posturographic parameters and mus...

Purpose: Needs in terms of quality of life (QoL), consisting of physical, emotional and social domains, represent a hot spot in idiopathic short stature (ISS). Between ISS, it is estimated that 12% can have SHOX deficiency. Furthermore, SHOX deficiency can affect posture and GH treatment ameliorate their QoL. Although scientific research has investigated many fields of the physical domain, very few studies highlighted how this pathological condition may af...

Background: There is growing evidence of a correlation between fat and bone metabolism at both the clinical and molecular levels, although the systemic regulators have not been clearly identified. The receptor activator of nuclear factor kB ligand (RANKL) and its soluble decoy receptor, osteoprotegerin (OPG), are involved in bone resorption and vascular calcification. OPG levels has been related with insulin resistance in adult obese subjects.Objective a...

Introduction: Septo-optic dysplasia (SOD) is an uncommon, highly heterogeneous entity of multifactorial etiology, consisting in the association of 2 or more of the following characteristics: ophthalmological abnormalities [most frequently optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH)], midline brain abnormalities [such as aplasia/hypoplasia of the septum pellucidum (SP) and/or corpus callosum (CC)] and variable degree of hypotalamo-pituitary insufficiency (HPI)<p class="ab...

The standard of care for the treatment of hypothyroidism is the administration of daily tablets of levothyroxine (LT4) at doses that normalize serum TSH levels. In most patients, this approach elevates serum thyroid hormone (TH) levels and eliminates symptoms of overt hypothyroidism. Nonetheless, treatment with LT4 in adults does not fully normalize the TH economy. Despite normal TSH levels, many patients exhibit a reduction in the serum T3/T4 ratio due to a relative excess of...

Background: In North-Eastern Italy, a newborn screening for congenital adrenal hyperlpasia (CAH) has been taking place since 2001 to diagnose the classical form of 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD). Thanks to the screening program based on 17-OHP levels in dried blood spots, early diagnosis of CAH is possible, allowing appropriate precocious treatment and reducing mortality rates. Unfortunately, a high false positive rate, especially in preterm, low-birth-wei...

Background: Cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD; MIM 119600) is a rare congenital autosomal dominant skeletal dysplasia characterized by hypoplastic or aplastic clavicles, late closure of the fontanelles, open skull sutures, dental anomalies, moderately short stature and a variety of other skeletal features. CCD is caused by mutations, deletions or duplications in the runt-related transcription factor 2 gene (RUNX2), which encodes for a protein essential for osteoblast differentiatio...

Cushing’s disease (CD) is rare entity especially in pediatric patients. It is associated with significant morbidity. Early diagnosis and treatment is important for optimal outcome.Aim: To evaluate the clinical, biochemical, pathology, treatments and outcome in a cohort of CD pediatrics patients in a single tertiary center.Subjects and Methods: Retrospective review of 27 medical records of CD ...

Introduction: Growth prediction algorithms (i.e. iGRO), provide an estimate of a patients’ likely growth in the first year, and subsequent years, of GH treatment at a given dose, taking into account the patient’s combination of physical characteristics. Comparing a patient’s actual growth with their predicted growth after the first year of GH treatment, it is possible to determine whether the patient is responding to GH as expected (Index of responsiveness; IoR)...

Background: Elastargene 3C (E3C) is a cream specifically designed to improve lipoatrophy in patients with diabetes. It is made by many ingredients, among whom are elastin, arnica, collagen, caffeine, and L-carnitine.Objective and hypotheses: We started a 6-month, double-blind, randomized trial to test the efficacy of E3C in children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) using insulin pump (CSII), in whom infusion set usually left little withe scars.<...