ESPE Abstracts

Background: Nutrient deprivation during early development has been associated with the predisposition to metabolic disorders in numerous epidemiological studies. Experiments with rodents also indicate a developmental plasticity of neuropsychological characteristics following alterations of early postnatal nutrition.Objective: Considering its interaction with metabolism and regulation of appetite and behavior, the endocannabinoid system (ECS) may represen...

Donohue Syndrome is a rare and lethal autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the insulin receptor gene. It presents severe insulin resistance, fasting hypoglycemia, post-prandial hyperglycemia, intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation, dysmorphic features, hypertrichosis. The diagnosis of Donohue syndrome was based on the clinical characteristics, laboratory evaluation and determination of the INSR mutation. We report a Turkish female patient with genetically ...

Introduction: The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing worldwide, and the management remains a challenge. The mainstay of management is lifestyle modification but if this is not successful, pharmacological agents are considered although the options in children and young people are quite limited. Metformin has been used as an adjunct therapy alongside lifestyle modification in children and young people with obesity. Some studies have shown it to be eff...

Introduction: Empirical research studies suggest that continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS) are safe and could optimize neonatal hypoglycaemia management. However, they need to be tested within resource-limited, time-constrained clinical practice. CGMS was piloted in our Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in June 2017. Five key barriers to its effective implementation were identified: i) Lack of NICU staff confidence in device usage ii) Infant discomfort during...

Background: GH treatment has been used for the last 30 years for children with short stature with varying individual responses.Objective: Analysis of final height SDS (standard deviation score) and the factors influencing it in children treated with growth hormone.Material and methods: Subjects across Wales who received GH treatment, part supervised by tertiary center staff and reached final height while on treatment, were identifi...

Introduction: The BSPED Peer review programme was developed to provide a regular cycle of independent impartial professional assessment, against agreed quality standards for Specialised Paediatric Endocrine Services (SPES) in the UK.1 The aim is to continuously promote best quality of care for children and young people with endocrine disorders requiring National Health Service treatment at a SPES. We present here an evaluation of the process during this first revie...

Background: Thyroid disorders in the neonatal period can have serious consequences for growth and development. Neonatal bloodspot screening identifies congenital hypothyroidism. Current guidelines both internationally and in tertiary centres in Ireland have moved towards checking thyroid function tests (TFTs) solely in infants of mothers with hyperthyroidism and those identified on neonatal bloodspot screening. The practice in OLOLH, Ireland was that all infants of mothers wit...

Background: In children with Prader–Willi Syndrome (PWS), hypothalamic dysfunction plays a key role in the development of aberrant energy regulation, sleep-related breathing disorders, hypogonadism and impaired linear growth. Dysfunction of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis may contribute to the high incidence of sudden death. The prevalence and the extent of the dysfunction of HPA axis remain unclear.Method: Thirty-one (10M/21...

Background: The optimal method to assess GH status remains controversial. GH provocation tests are used and the Insulin Tolerance Test (ITT) is regarded as the ‘gold standard’ to diagnose GH deficiency (GHD). The original selection of 0, 20, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min time points is still used in many protocols worldwide, but variations have evolved.Objective and hypotheses: Comparing standard ITT (StdITT) to a revised (RevITT) protocol.<p clas...

22-month girl presented with 3 days of cough and fevers, 2 weeks of rhinorrhoea and frequent “clearing of throat” and 6 months of diaphoresis and growth spurt. On examination, she was flushed and diaphoretic with a large goitre. She had a low grade fever (T=37.9) with signs of cardiac compromise (bounding pulse sinus tachycardia [HR=200bpm]. She was hypertensive [BP=145/90mmHg] and tachypnoeic [RR=36/min] with respiratory distress and right-sided crepitations. She ha...