ESPE Abstracts

Background: Obesity in childhood and adolescence represents a major health problem of our century, and accounts for a significant increase in morbidity and mortality in adulthood. In addition to the increased consumption of calories and lack of exercise, accumulating evidence suggests that childhood obesity is strongly associated with prolonged and excessive activation of the stress system.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of our study was to assess the ...

Background: The prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically in Greece in the last decades, and more than 30% of children and adolescents are currently overweight or obese. Obesity is associated with decreased circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, which might predispose to metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.Objective and hypotheses: To determine serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and their relationship to ca...

Background: Growth in infancy is considered primarily to be regulated by nutrition and insulin, whereas less is known about the influence of IGF-I, reproductive hormones and other factors of importance. Recently, paternally inherited genetic defects of DLK1 (Delta-like 1 homolog) were found in girls with central precocious puberty (CPP) with a metabolic phenotype. In addition, low maternal serum DLK1 concentrations were significantly lower in pregnant women wh...

Introduction: Male puberty is initiated by endocrine signaling in the hypothalamic-pituitary axis whereby follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) enable testicular maturation and synthesis of testosterone. Recent publications have eluded to overnutrition and obesity as relevant factors that may accelerate the timing of puberty. Attainment of testicular volume (TV) 4 ml measured by Prader orchidometer remains the definition of male puber...

Objectives: Modern treatments lead to increased survival rates from childhood cancer. Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are a growing population group, which is at high risk for cardiometabolic disorders including metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Obesity is one of the major drivers of these adverse outcomes, resulted from corticosteroids, radiotherapy, sedentary behavior, and precancer obesity. Assessment of obesity could identify...

Introduction: The good nutritional status of children in the first years of life is essential for their healthy growth and development. Evaluating the repercussions of nutritional status is fundamental since nutrition can influence both short-term and adult life.Objective: To analyze the temporal trends of the BMI of Brazilian children aged 0 to 5 between 2010 and 2022.Patients and methods:...

Background: There is limited data supporting concerns that systemic corticosteroids, prescribed in pregnancy for maternal health reasons, can suppress the neonatal Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis. Our study aimed to determine if neonates born to mothers on long-term or high dose steroids are at risk of adrenal suppression.Methodology: Neonates who underwent assessment of adrenal function over a seven-year perio...

Introduction: Excessive androgen secretion from gonads, adrenal gland and tumors arising from germ cells lead to gonadotropin independent precocious puberty in male and virilization in females. Rapid progression of symptoms with peripheral precocity need urgent evaluation to identify the underlying etiology. We report three cases of malignancy with excess androgen secretion within a year in a tertiary care children hospital in Sri Lanka....

Introduction: Bartter syndrome (BS) is a rare genetic renal tubular disorder characterized by hypokalemia, salt-wasting and metabolic alkalosis. Polyuria, polydipsia, hypokalemia and salt loss are responsible for the growth retardation seen in BS. Persistent growth failure despite optimizing medical therapy may be due to growth hormone (GH) deficiency.Case diagnosis and treatment: A 9-year-old girl diagnosed with Bartter...

Background: Evaluation of the external genitalia is very important in the routine neonatal examination, since abnormalities of the genitalia give clues to underlying endocrine disorders or serious structural malformations. This is the first report regarding the stretched penile length (SPL) of newborns from Sri Lanka.Objective and hypotheses: The objectives of the study were to document the SPL of healthy term neonates born following an uncomplicated del...