ESPE Abstracts

Background: Vitamin D plays a significant role in musculoskeletal health and various extraskeletal functions making the prevention and treatment of this vitamin (now considered as a hormone) of utmost importance. Literature on requirement/supplementation of vitamin D in asymptomatic children is scarce and this study was an attempt to see the effect of three different doses of cholecalciferol supplementation regimens in children with asymptomatic vitamin D deficiency.<p cla...

Background: The pathophysiological mechanism of skeletal fragility in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is unclear.Objective: To compare trabecular bone microarchitecture, cortical geometry, muscle area and fat fraction (FF) at distal femur and vertebral bone marrow adiposity (BMA) between DMD and controls.Method: Bone-muscle and muscle FF were assessed using 3T MRI and Dixon technique. BMA was assessed using 1H-MRS. Results expres...

Background: Glucocorticoid (GC) therapy is standard of care of management of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) but its use is associated with a range of side-effects. Weight gain leading to significant obesity is common in GC treated boys. There are limited studies evaluating body composition in DMD following initiation of GC, and the timing of increase in fat mass is not known.Aim(s): To evaluate changes in growth param...

In children with X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH), excess circulating fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) causes hypophosphatemia with consequent rickets, skeletal deformities, and impairments in growth and mobility. Compared to continuation with conventional therapy (oral phosphate and active vitamin D [Pi/D]), switching to treatment with burosumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody against FGF23, showed significantly greater improvement in phosphate homeostasis, rickets sever...

Introduction: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is associated with long-term health problems. However, little is known about co-morbidities and their onset in children and young persons (CYP).Objective: To establish the health status of CYP with CAH across the United Kingdom.Methods: A multi-centre prospective study recruited 102 patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency targeting...

Background: Poor temperature regulation in Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) suggests dysautonomia probably secondary to hypothalamic dysfunction. Autonomic nervous system (ANS) has control over orexigenic ghrelin.Objective and hypotheses: We aim to assess ANS function in PWS and its association with acyl ghrelin.Method: We recruited 16 genetically-confirmed children with PWS and 16 controls. Exclusion criteria were diabetes mellitu...

Introduction: Glucocorticoid treatment remains a challenging aspect in the management of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Current strategies for monitoring treatment are suboptimal and rely largely on frequent blood tests, which are traumatising in children and young persons (CYP). Recent evidence indicates a crucial role of 11-oxygenatedC19 androgens in the pathogenesis of CAH.Aim: To explore the use of 11-oxygenat...

Background: GH deficiency (GHD) is an endocrine condition, caused by problems arising in the pituitary gland that does not produce sufficient quantities of GH. GHD is treated by replacing GH with one daily injections. Recent studies suggested that GH could be involved in regulation of certain stem cell subset potential and function. However, the exact effects of GH therapy on biology of stem cells in paediatric patients were not studied in detail.Methods...

Introduction: Menarche is the time of first menstrual bleed and it occurs, on average, 2 to 2.5 years after the onset of puberty. Globally, the age of menarche had been reduced since the last century.Objective: To examine the evolution of the age of menarche over the last decades and inter-regional variability in an autonomous community located in northern Spain which is divided in eight health areas.<p class="abstex...

Background: Gonadectomy is generally postponed until early adulthood in complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS) and close surveillance of gonads in situ proposed in males with partial AIS (PAIS). Delaying gonadectomy further is controversial given the lack of data regarding germ cell cancer (GCC) development in adulthood and the absence of biomarkers for noninvasive GCC screening.Aims and objectives: To study the prevalence of invasive G...