ESPE Abstracts

Background: 14½ year old girl presented with increased skin pigmentation, weakness of limbs and walking difficulty and delayed puberty.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the girl for the aetiology of hyperpigmentation, neuromuscular weakness and delayed development of secondary sexual characters.Method: The girl was evaluated by neurologist and found to have development delay, sensory and motor neuropathy, ataxia, amyotroph...

Background/aim: Hyperparathyroidism (HPHT) is a common feature in patients with X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) especially when treated with vitamin D analogues and phosphate supplements. Although the exact mechanism is not clear, it is assumed that phosphate supplements taken chronically stimulate parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion. We prospectively assessed the effect of a novel pathogenetic treatment anti-FGF23 (burosumab) on PTH levels in children with XL...

We recently assessed systolic heart function in children from IUGR and normal control pregnancies and reported early developmental impairment of left ventricular longitudinal strain – a sensitive echocardiographic measure – during the first 3 months of life in IUGR children. In accordance with previous studies, this suggest that the increased cardiovascular risk later in life imposed by IUGR/SGA may, at least to some extent, be primary and not entirely secondary to...

Steroidogenic enzyme expression in the fetal adrenal and the placenta hints at the production and metabolism of adrenal-derived 11-oxy androgens (11OxyAs) in the fetal-placental unit. Thus, 11OxyAs are present in placental tissue, fetal cord blood and neonatal serum, and could have a particular role during fetal development. The metabolism of the 11OxyAs in the fetal unit, therefore, presents as a focal point of investigation. Adrenal androgens are primarily metabolized by the...

Androgens play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a common endocrine disorder affecting adolescent girls. Elevated androgen levels are implicated in the development and progression of PCOS, leading to symptoms such as hirsutism, acne, and irregular menstrual cycles. In patients with PCOS, the inhibition of androgen synthesis presents a therapeutic challenge. Given its crucial role in androgen production, CYP17A1 has become a major target...

Background: The average age at pubertal onset is declining worldwide which has received a lot of scientific and public attention. This secular trend is accompanied by an increasing number of children diagnosed with precocious puberty in many countries worldwide. However, there is less focus on the secular changes in the upper and lower boundaries (+/- 2 standard deviation (SD)) for pubertal onset and very little is known about whether a secular trend in the in...

Introduction: Growth restriction (GR) comprises ~50% of new patient referrals to paediatric endocrine clinics with <20% receiving a clear diagnosis. Enhanced genetic testing and stratification leading to tailored clinical care is a fundamental need. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was offered to patients recruited to the 100,000 Genomes Project (100 KGP), leading to new diagnoses in ~25% of all rare disease participants. The analysis pipeline uses disease-spe...

Background/Aim: 25 to 40% of children with well-controlled X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) show linear growth failure, despite optimal conventional treatment (oral phosphate supplementation and active forms of vitamin D) with final height -2 SDS. Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) may be an adjuvant treatment of the growth retardation in these patients. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to describe how rhGH treatment improves final heigh...

Background: Noonan syndrome (NS) is a rare genetic disease characterized by facial dysmorphism, short stature, heart defects, chest deformities, and variable developmental delay/learning disabilities. Almost 80% of patients have a mutation in the genes encoding components of the RAS/MAPK pathway. Puberty was described as delayed in NS patients, but few studies are focusing on this subject and genotype-phenotype correlations so far.<s...

Background/Aim: Several criteria for the first year growth response (FYGR) to growth hormone (GH) treatment have been proposed. We explored which FYGR criteria predict best the final height outcome after GH treatment in prepubertal children with GH deficiency (GHD).Methods: Height data of 129 GHD children (83 boys) treated with GH for at least 4 consecutive years with at least 1 year before pubertal onset, were retrieved...