ESPE Abstracts

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents a spectrum of clinicopathological conditions frequently discovered in obese patients and characterized by multifactorial pathogenesis. Hypoadiponectinaemia and higher interleukin (IL)-6 levels has been related to NAFLD, even if some contradictory findings have emphasized our incomplete understanding of the role of the cytokines in NAFLD.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the relations...

Background: 3-M syndrome is an autosomal recessive primordial growth disorder characterized by severe prenatal and postnatal growth retardation, normal mental development, unusual facial features and skeletal abnormalities. Mutations in the CUL7, OBSL1 and CCDC8 genes are responsible for this syndrome. In literature a modest response to GH treatment in 3M children is reported without a significant improvement in the final height, suggesting a picture...

Background: Gonadal dysgenesis may be rarely associated with precocious puberty (PP) and development of gonadoblastoma. In these patients cases of peripheral PP have been reported. On the contrary, a central PP has been very rarely described.Objective and hypotheses: To describe a female with central PP associated with a bilateral gonadoblastoma.Results: A 8 year and 5 month old phenotypically female child, presenting suspected PP ...

Background: Empty sella refers to the radiographic appearance of an enlarged or deformed sella turcica and it is considered a rare occurrence in childhood. Many reports have suggested that it is associated with hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction, with a high prevalence of growth hormone deficiency, as well as multiple pituitary hormone deficiency, idiopathic delayed puberty and isolated diabetes insipidus.Objective and hypotheses: We describe the case of...

Background: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) deficiency is reported to be common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and associated with disease activity, physical disability, and cardiometabolic intermediates; data in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) are inconsistent.Objective and hypotheses: To assess serum 25(OH)D in children, adolescents, and young adults with JIA, and to identify the risk factors for vitamin D deficiency in JIA patie...

Background: Mutations in the 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17βHSD 3) result in 46,XY disorder of sex development (DSD). Biochemical hallmark of 17βHSD 3 deficiency is a Testosterone/Androstenedione ratio (T/A ratio) <0.8. 17βHSD 3 mutations have been associated with a wide spectrum of phenotypes, ranging from under-virilized male to a female appearance of genitalia at birth. Indeed, 17βHSD 3 deficiency in prepubertal patients is often clinicall...

Background: The adrenal glands and gonads develop from an area of intermediate mesoderm between 6 and 10 weeks post conception (wpc) in humans. Elucidating the genomic components and pathways in these processes could reveal novel aspects of human developmental biology and new factors implicated in adrenal insufficiency and DSD.Objective and hypotheses: To develop a unique genomic atlas of adrenal and gonad development during critical stages of human embr...

Background: A compromised final height (FH) is a concern in patients diagnosed with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). The lack of achievement of the genetic target height (TH) can be attributed to treatment with high doses of corticosteroids and high levels of adrenal androgens. Despite the emergence of new therapeutic modalities such as the use of anti-androgens and growth hormone it has been shown that a favorable FH can be achieved with careful use of corticosteroids.</...

Background: Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is the most common cause of the persistent hypoglycemia in children and occurs in approximately 1 in 50,000 live births. Genetic testing provides information on the pancreatic histological subtype (i.e. focal vs diffuse) and determines further management and prognosis of the patients. At least 11 known monogenic forms and several syndromes have been associated with CHI. Mutations in ABCC8 and KCNJ11 genes coding pot...

Background: Adult height prediction (AHP) based on bone age appears as an incomplete procedure – it does not reveal the path from the present to the end-point. Growth charts offer little help in this respect because they average over children with different age of growth spurt (AGS).Objective and hypotheses: To extend AHP by also forecasting AGS and the entire height and velocity trajectories until adulthood and displaying this in a growth chart mad...