ESPE Abstracts

Background: Insulin resistance precedes metabolic syndrome abnormalities, and may promote cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in obese children. Lifestyle modification programs have been proposed as the gold standard of care in these individuals. However, results have been discouraging and the use of adjuvant strategies has been necessary. Metformin has beneficial effects on weight reduction, favoring a decrease in body mass index (BMI) and insulin resistance in obese n...

Introduction: Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in the paediatric age. Decreased physical activity and increased inactivity are important factors that are involved in this pandemic. The highest prevalence of obesity in Europe is in the South.Objective: To study the relationship between the practice of a regulated sport and lipid profile in overweight children and adolescents.Material and methods: 318 overweight childr...

Background: Sickle cell anemia (SCA) leads to chronic end organ damage including the thyroid gland. This is postulated to be due to recurrent hemolysis leading to iron overload, vaso-occlusive crises, micro-vasculature obstruction due to red cell entrapment and frequent transfusions. Some studies have demonstrated a relationship between hypothyroidism and SCA with a prevalence of 6% in children and adolescents. Hypothyroidism may affect brain and physical deve...

Introduction: Disorders of sex development (DSD) refer to a group of conditions, including Turner syndrome in which an individual's physical sex characteristics do not conform to typical male or female patterns, including a range of differences in chromosomes, hormones and anatomy. Gender-specific problems are usually not prominent, compared to other forms of DSD. Gender dysphoria (GD) is a discomfort between a person’s assigned sex based on physica...

Introduction: In the last years, the prevalence of high blood pressure (HBP) has increased in children, contributing to raise the risk of future cardiovascular disease. It is known that family history, pregnancy characteristics and type of feeding in the first months of life are of great importance in the prevention of diseases in the offspring. In this study we aimed to investigate the association between early life risk factors and HBP in children and adolescents.<p clas...

The 5α-reductase deficiency type 2 is a rare autosomal recessive 46,XY disorder of sexual development (DSD), presenting with a wide clinical spectrum ranging from a male phenotype with hypospadias to a female phenotype with wolffian structures. Here we report about the clinical, hormonal and molecular characterization of two siblings with a mutation in the SRD5A2 gene, as well as the challenge of gender identity and the importance of psychosocial care. The older sibling ...

Deletions at 16p11.2 have been reported to be associated with obesity, intellectual disability and various malformations. There are variations in phenotypes associated with deletions of different sizes in this region. Some deletions encompass the SH2B1 gene encoding an adaptor protein involved in leptin and insulin signalling which is believed to be causal for the early-onset obesity of these patients who in addition show a developmental delay (see patient 1). Deletio...

Childhood obesity is the consequence of a complex interaction among several factors: environment, genetics, endocrine disorders, medications and other conditions. Genetic factors are described to be causal factors in up to 30–50% of overweight conditions. Although polygenetic obesity is by far the most commonly observed, several obesity related syndromes associated with single gene defects have been identified.Case presentation: A three year old gir...

Background: Small for gestational age (SGA) children are at increased risk of metabolic syndrome in adulthood and have below-average bone mineral density (BMD). Growth hormone treatment reduces fat mass and insulin sensitivity, increases lean body mass and improves height and BMD in short SGA children. We aimed to evaluate changes in body composition in SGA patients treated with growth hormone (GH), after its cessation, compared with young adults born appropriate for gestation...

Background: Patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) are glucocorticoid deficient and require cortisol replacement to maintain homeostasis and prevent adrenal crises. Hydrocortisone dosing needs to be individualized because of variable cortisol clearance rates. Patients are thus prone to be either over or undertreated, both of which compromises final height.Objective and hypotheses: Performing 24-h cortisol profiling serially may allow for more...