ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder resulting from the lack of expression of the PWS region (locus q11-q13) on the paternally derived chromosome 15. Either a paternal deletion of the PWS region (50%), a maternal uniparental disomy (mUPD; 43%), an imprinting defect (4.1%) or translocation (<1%) can lead to PWS. Deletions are almost always de novo and manifest either as a large type I or a smaller type II deletion. In more rar...

Introduction: Most patients with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) have a mild to moderate cognitive impairment. Growth hormone (GH) treatment has positive short- and long-term effects on cognition in children with PWS. Few studies, however, have investigated the effects of GH on cognitive functioning in adults with PWS.Objective: To investigate the effects of 3 years GH treatment on cognitive functioning in young adults with ...

Context: Most children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) develop scoliosis. Scoliosis has a prevalence of 80% in children with PWS older than 10 years, who were not treated with growth hormone (GH). GH is an approved treatment for children with PWS and improves psychomotor development and body composition. The onset and progression of scoliosis are generally associated with an accelerated growth velocity and GH treatment might cause accelerated growth. Sinc...

Context: Clinical findings characterizing PWS are muscular hypotonia, abnormal body composition, developmental delay, behavioral problems, hyperphagia with obesity when food intake is not restricted and short stature. Endocrine problems are described, like hypogonadism, hypothyroidism and adrenal insufficiency and growth hormone (GH) deficiency. Hypothalamic dysfunction may be responsible for many features of PWS. Randomized controlled studies showed that GH t...

Context: In the newborn period, failure to thrive (FTT) with feeding difficulties and severe hypotonia are prominent in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). Despite the low weight, abnormal body composition is already present at birth in both children with FTT and those without. Limited studies reported the prevalence of FTT in infants with PWS and it has not yet been described whether GH-treatment has different effects in infants with FTT compared to those without.</...

Introduction: Hypogonadism affects almost all males with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and is associated with decreased bone mineral density (BMD). Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) improves BMD and aids sexual maturation, but TRT could aggravate challenging behaviour that many patients with PWS already suffer from, causing reluctance in starting TRT in males with PWS. This study aims to provide more evidence on the effect of TRT on behaviour, BMD and body ...

Introduction: Genetic syndromes often show suggestive facial features that provide clues for the diagnosis. Considering the high number of genetic syndromes and the possible overlap of some features, memorizing facial gestalt is a challenging task for clinicians. DeepGestalt technology, and its app Face2Gene, has a growing impact on the diagnosis and management of genetic diseases by analyzing the features detected in one or more facial images of affected indi...