ESPE Abstracts

Background: Differences in sexual development (DSD) are rare diagnoses, which affect the chromosomal, anatomical or gonadal sex differentiation. Although comprehensive counseling of patients and parents/carers is necessary to ensure a positive coping with the diagnosis and a well-informed decision-making, standardised programmes are lacking. Empower-DSD is a government-funded project, which developed an age-adapted multidisciplinary education programme to impr...

Background: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is the most common neonatal endocrine disorder, with an incidence of 1:3000 neonates, and one of the most frequent preventable causes of mental retardation worldwide. Most (65%) cases of primary permanent CH are due to thyroid dysgenesis (TD). However, a genetic cause is identified in less than 5% of CH due to DT.Methods: We performed WES (Whole Exome Sequencing) for siblings with childhood-onset TD and we analy...

Background: ACH is the most common short-limbed skeletal dysplasia, affecting between 1 in 15,000 to 1 in 30,000 live births. Children and adults with ACH have disproportionate short stature, with a final height of approx. 131 cm for males and 124 cm for females. People with ACH are prone to significant co-morbidities, including obstructive sleep apnea, chronic otitis media with conductive hearing loss, spinal stenosis, and a propensity towards obesity. In som...

Introduction: Monogenic defects in the leptin-melanocortin pathway result in hyperphagia and severe, early-onset obesity. Knowledge of the natural history of anthropometric parameters in patients with monogenic obesity is essential for diagnosis. However, reliable data on early childhood weight and height development in affected patients are lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the history of height, weight, and BMI development in early childhood in a Europea...

Background: Achondroplasia (ACH), the most common short-limbed skeletal dysplasia, is characterized by impaired endochondral ossification resulting from gain-of-function pathogenic variants in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene, a negative regulator of endochondral bone growth. People with ACH are at risk for several significant co-morbidities, including brainstem compression due to foramen magnum stenosis, sleep-disordered breathing, chronic...

Background: XLH is a rare, genetic, life-long disease caused by PHEX pathogenic variants. It is associated with progressive accumulation of musculoskeletal features and symptoms that evolve across the patient’s lifetime if untreated. Although the disease is well characterised in children and adults, there are limited data describing the health outcomes and experiences of adolescents, particularly at end of skeletal growth (EOSG), a crucial phase during t...

Background: A high frequency of extrathyroidal congenital anomalies has been reported in infants with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) detected by neonatal screening. Current ESPE guidelines suggest that congenital malformations, underlying dysmorphic syndromes and psychomotor and language development should be sought for and monitored in CH patients. The identification of co-existing nosologies and malformations is helpful not only for clinical purposes but also for uncovering ...

Introduction: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has witnessed increasing number of researchers over last decade; for example, in-between 2015 and 2016, the number of researchers (in full time equivalent) per 1 million inhabitants was 2.4K in UAE, 1.1K in Morocco, 680 in Egypt, 604 in Qatar and 242 in Oman. Research and Development investment among Arabic countries was the highest in Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirate...

Introduction: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by impairment of one of the enzymes involved in the steroidogenesis pathway. CAH due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD) is attributed to mutations of the CYP21A2 gene and is distinguished into classic [salt wasting (SW), simple virilizing (SV)] and non-classic form. Herein we present a) the genetic investigation of 526 subjects with suspicion of 21-OHD in t...

Introduction: Resistance to Thyroid Hormone (RTH) is a clinical syndrome characterized by impaired end-organ responsiveness to Thyroid Hormone (TH). The cardinal features of this syndrome are elevated serum levels of free THs with normal or high TSH, often with goiter and no clear symptoms of thyrotoxicosis. Mutations in the Thyroid Hormone Receptor beta (THRB) gene constitute the most frequent cause of RTH, defined as RTHβ.<p class="abstext"...