ESPE Abstracts

Background: To update the ongoing debate about the use of universal strict vs (local) national intrauterine growth charts, we compared the prevalence of small and large-for-gestational-age (SGA/LGA) infants according to international charts and national growth data.Methods: We classified singleton births from 33 to 42 weeks of gestation in 2016 and 2019 from Qatar (n = 92431), SGA (birthweight <10th percentil...

Hypertension is a frequent chronic pathology in young diabetics. The association of diabetes and hypertension represents a high risk of morbidity and premature cardiovascular mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of hypertension in young diabetics and to assess the associated morbid factors.Patients and Methods: 357 diabetics aged 3 to 27 years (mean age: 10 years), were followed at the Children's Hospital o...

Introduction: Neonatal thyrotoxicosis (NT) is rare but potentially life-threatening condition with high mortality risk due to cardiac failure(12-20%). Affected neonates are born to mothers with underlying thyroid pathology. Estimated prevalence of trans-placental transfer of thyroid antibodies occurs 1 in every 70 pregnancies with Graves’ disease. Symptoms in the neonate usually manifest by 10 days of life but this can be as late as day 45. We discuss tw...

Background: Obesity results from interactions between environmental and genetic factors. Despite a relatively high heritability of common, non-syndromic obesity (40–70%), the search for genetic variants contributing to susceptibility has been a challenging task. To date, more than 40 genetic variants have been associated with obesity and fat distribution. However, since these variants do not fully explain the heritability of obesity, other forms of va...

Background: Thyroid hormones act via receptors (TRα; TRβ) encoded by separate genes (THRA, THRB). Mutations in THRA are a recently-recognised cause of Resistance to Thyroid Hormone alpha (RTHα), a disorder with tissue-specific hypothyroidism but near-normal thyroid function tests.Aim: We describe the youngest recorded case of RTHa, in a 2yr old boy with disproportionate short stature, ...

Background: StAR deficiency is a rare cause of primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI), with fewer than 100 cases reported worldwide. The first patients to be described suffered from severe forms of lipoid adrenal hyperplasia leading to severe undervirilization in 46,XY foetuses. More recently, however, less severe forms, known as "non-classical" or "atypical lipoid adrenal hyperplasia", presenting with PAI with salt wasting (SW) syndrome and norma...

Background: Resistance to thyroid hormone beta (THRβ) is a clinical spectrum which varies in presentation even between individuals with the same mutation. Life-threatening cardiac dysfunction is recognized in homozygous THRβ state but never reported in cases of inherited heterozygous THRβ defects.Aim: We report the first case of familial inherited heterozygous (THRB) beta mutation presenting with ...

We analyzed the clinical data and the growth parameters of 50 newborns and young infants (age: 1.6 ± 0.9 months) admitted to our hospital (Al Wakhra Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Doha, Qatar), between 1-1-2016 to 1-1-2017, with acute meningitis. Anthropometric measurements included weight, length, and head circumference. Length SDS (L-SDS) and body-mass-index (BMI) were calculated and recorded at every clinic visit, every 3 months for 8 ± 2 months.<p class=...

Background: Down syndrome (DS) is associated with thyroid dysfunction including both congenital and acquired hypothyroidism (HT) However, data about thyroid function in infants < 1 year with DS is scarce.The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of different thyroid dysfunctions in a cohort of infants with DS (n = 47) (22 M, 25 F) and follow up their linear growth and weight gain for an average of 4 years.<p cla...

We evaluated the final height and the endocrine complications encountered in young adult patients with Thalassemia Intermedia (TI) followed at Hematology Section, Doha (Qatar) in relation to the liver iron content (LIC) in non-transfused versus infrequently transfused TI patients.Patients and Methods: This retrospective cohort study was performed on 28 young adults with TI who were randomly selected from the Hematology clinic, National C...