ESPE Abstracts

Background: Disproportional short stature (DSS) is the most frequent clinical presentation of skeletal dysplasias, which are a heterogeneous group of more than 450 disorders of bone. Skeletal survey is important to establish the diagnosis and to guide the genetic test, but has several limitations, especially in mild and atypical cases.Objective and hypotheses: To identify the genetic aetiology of DSS by exome sequencing.Method: Who...

Background: Maternal autoimmune hypothyroidism can have negative consequences on the fetus: on the one hand, maternal hypothyrosinemia might affect the fetal brain development in the early stages of pregnancy; on the other, thyroid inhibiting antibodies can pass through the placenta. It is currently unclear if these antibodies may affect the newborn’s thyroid function. Consequently, there are no certain indications regarding the management of newborns bor...

A 8 years and 7 months old male presented with short stature related to his target height. No history of bones fractures. The patient was 120.7 cm (- 1.77 SDS). Physical exam demonstrated peculiar facies, relative macrocephaly, delayed tooth eruption and pectus carinatum. He referred during the clinical evaluation diffuse bone pain and weakness, mostly exacerbated by sport activity. A first diagnostic investigation had already been made showing low serum alkaline phosphatase a...

Cystic Fibrosis (CF), is due to CF-transmembrane-conductance-regulator (CFTR) loss-of-function. Significant heterogeneity exists between patients, suggesting potential epigenetic regulation, and comorbidities develop with time. MiRNAs are non-coding RNAs that act as epigenetic regulators. Although many studies have focused on the role for miRNAs in regulating CFTR gene expression, little attention has been given to how CFTR influences their expression and how this affects grow...

Introduction: Although the safety and effectiveness of recombinant human growth hormone therapy (rhGH) has been reported for several years, the level of consensus on the outcomes that should be reported is unclear. The aim of this systematic review is to study the frequency of reporting of these outcomes in children with GH deficiency (GHD).Methods: A systematic review was performed in Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central R...

Introduction: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) is a biochemical condition characterized by serum levels of TSH above the reference range upper limit (4,5μUI/mL), with normal concentrations of thyroid hormones. In cases of non-autoimmune subclinical hypothyroidism (NASHT), genetic defects have been described and can determine disorders in the biosynthesis process of thyroid hormones, such as heterozygous mutations in the TSH receptor gene (TSHR) and ...

Abnormal DNA methylation contributes to tumor progression and is emerging as a prognostic marker in several types of cancers. To investigate whether DNA methylation is associated with pediatric adrenocortical tumor (pACT) presentation and patient prognosis, we analyzed the methylation profile of 57 tumors (MethylationEPIC BeadChip Array-Illumina) and patients’ clinicopathological features and outcome. The study comprehended 40 girls and 17 boys, with median age at diagnos...

Background: Impairment of the chromatin remodeling factors ATRX and DAXX and telomeres abnormality play a role in cancer biology, influencing the clinical outcomes. However, their roles in adrenal tumorigenesis require broader investigation.Aim: To evaluate ATRX and DAXX genotype and expression, telomere length, and the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT), as well as their clinical significance, in primary adrenoc...

Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is a rare overgrowth disorder characterised by macroglossia, exomphalos, lateralised overgrowth, organomegaly, hyperinsulinism, and an increased risk of embryonic tumor during early life. In about 80% of BWS cases, molecular defects are identified at the imprinted 11p15.5 region which contains the IGF2 and the CDKN1C genes (most patients show methylation defects at either imprinting control region IC1 or IC2, or paternal unip...

Introduction: Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early spring 2020, there was a need to identify the burden of this infection on people with rare endocrine conditions. The European Registries For Rare Endocrine Conditions (EuRRECa) was launched in 2018 in collaboration with Endo-ERN, ESPE and ESE to support the needs of the wider endocrine community. The project consists of an e-reporting (e-REC) platform that allows monthly reporting of new clini...