ESPE Abstracts

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: Multiple autosomal recessive genes have been linked to primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI). Recently, sphingosine-1-phosphate lyase 1 (SGPL1) gene mutations were recognized as a cause of sphingolipidosis with multisystemic manifestations, including PAI. Sphingosine phosphate lyase (SGPL1) insufficiency syndrome (SPLIS) is characterized by steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome, primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI), neurological deterioration, immunode...

Background: Maternal autoimmune hypothyroidism can have negative consequences on the fetus: on the one hand, maternal hypothyrosinemia might affect the fetal brain development in the early stages of pregnancy; on the other, thyroid inhibiting antibodies can pass through the placenta. It is currently unclear if these antibodies may affect the newborn’s thyroid function. Consequently, there are no certain indications regarding the management of newborns bor...

Background: The benefit of re-screening at 15 days of life in infants born to mothers with thyroid diseases (TD+) is a debated issue. In Italy, all the 16 newborn screening (NBS) laboratories use TSH measurement on dried blood spot as primary screening test for primary congenital hypothyroidism (CH) and adopt a 2-screen strategy in special categories of infants at risk of delayed TSH rise (preterm birth, admission to NICU, extra-thyroidal malformations, twinni...