ESPE Abstracts

Human growth is a complex trait. A considerable number of gene defects have been shown to cause short stature, but there are only few examples of genetic causes of non-syndromic tall stature. Besides rare variants with large effects and common risk alleles with small effect size, oligogenic effects may contribute to this phenotype. Exome sequencing was carried out in a tall male (height 3.5 SDS) and his parents. Filtered damaging variants with high CADD scores were validated b...

Introduction: Classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) caused by 21-hydroxylase deficiency results in impaired synthesis of gluco- and often also of mineralocorticoids. Early treatment with glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids prevents life-threatening crises. In some centres, additional salt is prescribed in the first year. However, until now the use of salt is controversial and not proved to result in better outcome in studies.<s...

Background: A 3.6-year-old Caucasian male presented with rapid onset of deep voice, facial hair, Tanner stage 2 testes, Tanner stage 3 pubic hair, penile length 9.5 cm, growth velocity (GV) 13.1 cm/year, and bone age 7 years. Evaluation was consistent with central precocious puberty and ruled out other pathology. Standard weight-based gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) therapy was initiated. GV increased to 16.6 cm/year, puberty advanced further, and bone age was 1...

Objective: Hysterosalpingography (HSG) to assess patency of the Fallopian tubes with the use of iodinated (oil- or water-based) contrast media is a standard test during fertility work-up. An observational study found an increased risk of congenital hypothyroidism in neonates whose mothers were exposed to high amounts of oil-based contrast during HSG. Oil-based contrast contains more iodine (480mg Iodine/ml) than water-based contrast (250mg Iodine/ml). We inves...

Background: Congenital central hypothyroidism (CeH) may occur isolated, or in combination with other pituitary hormone deficiencies. Although a third causative gene for CeH was recently reported (IGSF1), the aetiology of isolated CeH has remained unexplained in most cases.Objective and hypotheses: We hypothesized that in three relatives with unexplained isolated CeH a mutation in another gene might be responsible for the phenotype.<p class="...

Background: Reaching a definitive diagnosis in individuals with XY DSD is challenging and the time taken to reach a diagnosis is an important clinical benchmark that has not been sufficiently explored in this group of conditions.Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic process with a focus on the time to diagnosis in children with XY DSD reported via the e-reporting platform (e-REC) of the European Registries for Rare Endoc...

Background/Objective: Micro-and macrovascular changes are the cause for diabetes complications. Retinal vessel analysis is a unique method to examine microvascular changes in brain derived vessels.Subjects/Methods: Sixty-seven pediatric and adolescent type 1 diabetes patients and 58 healthy control persons underwent nonmydriatic retinal photography of both eyes. Arterioles and venules positioned in the region 0.5 to 1 diameter of the optic disc measured ...

Background: The potential benefit of growth hormone (GH) therapy on health-related QOL (HQoL) of children with short stature related to GH deficiency (GHD) or smallness for gestational age (SGA) has not been well documented.Objective and hypotheses: Our objective was to assess potential disease and treatment related predictors for a poor HQoL in GH treated children. Children with male gender, SGA disorder, greater height deficit at start of GH and poor h...

Objective: To describe clinical, laboratory and genetic characteristics of 42 short children from 34 consanguineous Turkish families.Design: Descriptive case series.Methods: After collecting clinical information, DNA samples were analysed in three European laboratories. In 18 children (12 families) suspected of a genetic defect in the growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor ...

Background: Human scalp hair is a valuable matrix for determining long-term cortisol concentrations, with wide-spread applicability in clinical care as well as research. However, pediatric reference intervals are lacking.The aim of this study is to establish age-adjusted reference intervals for hair cortisol in children aged 0-18 years and to gain insight into hair-growth velocity in children up to 2 years old.Methods: A...