ESPE Abstracts

Background: Growth monitoring of apparently healthy children aims at early detection of severe underlying conditions. Strong empirical evidence shows that current practices of growth monitoring are suboptimal. Practice standardisation with validated tools requires answering two questions: Which conditions should be targeted? How should abnormal growth be defined?Objective and hypotheses: To obtain consensus on a short list of priority target conditions o...

Background: Since the publication of international growth charts by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2006, the use of national growth charts for growth monitoring (GM) has been questioned.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the potential impact of using WHO vs. national growth charts on the performance of a clinical decision rule for detecting children with one of the target conditions of GM: GH deficiency (GHD).Method: In ...

Background: In industrialised countries, the main goal of growth monitoring (GM) of apparently healthy children is the early detection of severe underlying conditions. However, empirical evidence suggests globally poor performances of GM, with important diagnosis delays for priority target conditions and many unnecessary referrals for diagnostic work-up for disease-free children.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate and to compare the performance for ear...

Introduction: The BSPED Peer review programme was initiated in 2011 to provide a regular cycle of independent impartial professional assessment, against quality standards for Specialised Paediatric Endocrine Services (SPES) in the UK.1 We present here an evaluation of the outcomes from the first review cycle completed in 2017.Methods: We examined pre-review self-assessments (4–6 weeks before a site visit by the Peer Review team) and post-...

Introduction: The BSPED Peer review programme was developed to provide a regular cycle of independent impartial professional assessment, against agreed quality standards for Specialised Paediatric Endocrine Services (SPES) in the UK.1 The aim is to continuously promote best quality of care for children and young people with endocrine disorders requiring National Health Service treatment at a SPES. We present here an evaluation of the process during this first revie...

Background: Carnitine deficiency (CD) has been reported in children at time of type 1 diabetes (T1D) diagnosis. By impairing free fatty acid ß-oxidation in liver, muscle mass and pancreatic ß cells, CD might impair glucose homeostasis and residual insulin secretion. We postulate that reversed of these FAO defects may help regenerate a healthier ß cell mass and increased the diabetes honeymoon duration.Objective: Evaluate the effects of car...

Background: Congenital isolated adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) deficiency (IAD) is a rare condition. It is characterized by low plasma and cortisol levels and preservation of all other pituitary hormones (2 cases described with transient partial growth hormone deficiency). The principal molecular cause is identified as TPIT mutation. We present here the case of a neonate with TPIT mutation and ACTH deficiency associated with probable growth hormone and thyrotropin deficie...

Introduction: Until recently, bariatric surgery (BS) has been the only option for clinically meaningful weight reduction for adolescents and youth with extreme obesity. Low participation rate in follow-up examinations and low supplement intake after BS in adolescents has been described in literature (PMID: 24048144, 25078533). We developed a structured pre- and post-bariatric surgery program in order to improve follow-up rate and supplement intake in adolescen...

Background: Mounting evidence points to an association between increased glucocorticoid (GC) action and weight gain. However, the response to GCs is not only determined by GC serum concentrations, but also by individual differences in tissue-specific sensitivity, influenced by genetic and acquired (e.g. disease-related) factors. The extent to which differences in GC sensitivity may influence development of (abdominal) obesity, or vice versa, is poorly understo...

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...