ESPE Abstracts

Aim: We aimed to investigate the growth potential of pituitary microadenomas and cystic lesions < 10mm in children, and to evaluate how reproducible the measurements were on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Design: Retrospective observational study.Methods: 74 children were included < 18 years at first pituitary MRI, and diagnosed with a microadenoma (microadenoma producing ACTH, GH or TSH ...

For decades, the dominant conceptual framework for understanding short and tall stature was centered on the GH-IGF-I axis. However, recent findings in basic molecular and cellular biology and in clinical genetics have uncovered a vast array of other regulatory systems that control skeletal growth and an accompanying vast array of genetic defects outside the GH-IGF-I axis that can cause disorders of linear growth. As a result, the traditional view of short or tall stature that ...

Recent progress in the understanding of growth disorders has further emphasized that growth hormone deficiency is only one of many causes for growth failure and that growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is over-diagnosed in children with short stature. Over-diagnosis of GHD is problematic as it incorrectly labels children with pituitary disease, leads to overtreatment and misinformation of patients and families, and may sometimes prevent doctors from making the correct diagnosis. M...

The mammalian thyroid gland stands out in comparison to other organs as it develops from no less than three independent anlagen that originate in anterior endoderm. The median or central anlage present in the pharyngeal floor gives rise to the thyroid bud or diverticulum that provides progenitors to the thyroxin-producing follicular cells. Bilaterally, the ultimobranchial bodies bud off from the inferior-most pharyngeal pouch. Until recently those structures were considered me...

Retinoic acid receptor agonists can have dramatic negative effects on growth and even induce premature growth cessation and epiphyseal fusion (1, 2). An 11 5/12-year-old, prepubertal girl with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva presented in our pediatric skeletal disorders clinic with the concern of early growth cessation. She had participated in a clinical trial of Palovarotene (“MOVE”, NCT03312634), a retinoic acid receptor-gamma agonist, since the age of 9 10/1...

Retinoic acid receptor agonists can have dramatic negative effects on growth and even induce premature growth cessation and epiphyseal fusion (1, 2). An 11 5/12-year-old, prepubertal girl with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva presented in our pediatric skeletal disorders clinic with the concern of early growth cessation. She had participated in a clinical trial of Palovarotene (“MOVE”, NCT03312634), a retinoic acid receptor-gamma agonist, since the age of 9 10/1...

Background: Children with myelomeningocele (MMC) run an increased risk of developing early or precocious puberty (E/PP). In previous studies of such children we found that the incidence of E/PP was 52% in girls and 21% in boys and that E/PP was strongly associated with increased intracranial pressure perinatally. It is also known that the occurrence of hydrocephalus without MMC is associated with risk of E/PP.Objective and hypotheses: The aim was to stud...

Background: Congenital diabetes insipidus (DI) can be due to mutations in the arginine vasopressin (AVP) gene (familial neurohypophyseal DI), the AVP receptor type 2 (AVPR2) or aquaporin 2 (AQP2) genes (congenital nephrogenic DI, NDI). The clinical manifestation of congenital NDI, especially the response to AVP, can vary greatly depending on the functional effect of the AVPR2 mutation. Here we present two male siblings with NDI and partial response to ddAVP.<p class="abste...

Introduction: The diagnosis of growth hormone (GH) deficiency (GHD) is complicated by the low specificity of GH testing, especially in children before and during early pubertal stages. Sex steroid priming reduces false positive results in pre- and early pubertal children. However, only a small number of studies have assessed its efficacy in improving the diagnostic accuracy of GHD investigations.Aim: To evaluate the effe...

Background: Heterozygous Aggrecan (Acan) mutations cause autosomal short stature (ISS) with advanced bone age, early-onset osteoarthritis and intervertebral disc disease (OMIM#165800) in humans. Cartilage matrix deficiency mouse (Acancmd) has a naturally occurring 7 bp micro-deletion in aggrecan gene. Heterozygous Acancmd mice develop postnatal dwarfism with progressing age. However, the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms causin...