ESPE Abstracts

Thyroid nodules are rare in pediatric age with an incidence of 1.8–3%. However, the risk of thyroid cancer is much higher in the pediatric population compared with adults. Among the pediatric cancer survivors there is an increased risk of developing a secondary malignancy and the thyroid cancers account for about 10% of these secondary tumors. From 2004 to 2017, we have recruited 43 patients (22 females; 21 males) with thyroid nodules among a population who had presented ...

Background: Klinefelter syndrome (KS) has long-term consequences on bone health. However, studies regarding bone status and metabolism in childhood and adolescence are very rare.Objective and hypotheses: The purpose of our study was to evaluate bone status and metabolism in a cohort of KS children and adolescents.Method: This cross-sectional study involves 40 (mean age 13.7±3.8 years) KS children and adolescents and 80 age-mat...

Background: However, no study has considered the effect of a supernumerary X chromosome on bone mineral status and bone metabolism.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate bone mineral status and metabolism in a cohort of patients with nonmosaic triple X syndrome.Method: Nineteen girls (median age 10.9, range 7.7–15.9 years) with nonmosaic triple X syndrome were cross-sectionally studied and compared to an age- and body-size-matc...

Background: α-klotho is a transmembrane protein which can be cleaved and act as a circulating hormone. Since low α-klotho levels were found in organic GH deficiency (GHD) and high levels in acromegaly, an interaction between α-klotho, GH and linear growth has been suggested.Objective and hypotheses: We investigated the role of α-klotho protein as a reliable marker of GH secretion in short children and the factors influencing its secre...

Up to 50% of children born SGA to 2 years have not made a proper catch up (by excess or defect), with repercussions in size, metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, DM, etc. epiPEG-PreMeb project to study during their first two years of life.Goals:: Establish a SGAcohort for monitoring, evaluation catch-up, and analysis of medium-environmental and social factors. To study the influence of these variables on clinical, laboratory and metabolic profiles. So...

Background: In a recent report we have identified multinodular goiter (MNG) as a condition with an increased risk for thyroid malignancy in children and adolescents.Objective and hypotheses: To report the prevalence and characterization of a prospectively and uniformly followed cohort of pediatric patients with MNG and to retrospectively analyze differences between benign and malignant MNG before surgery in order to identify malignancy predictors.<p ...

Background: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is the commonest autoimmune disorder in Turner syndrome (TS). Although there are in the pediatric literature many studies on the relationships between TS and HT, only few of them have specifically investigated whether the association with TS might be able to significantly affect the evolution over time of thyroid function in children and adolescents with HT, by conditioning a different thyroid status prognosis.<p class="abstext...

Background: Childhood obesity is commonly associated with signs of endothelial dysfunction, characterized by impairment of insulin signaling and vascular NO availability. Recently both these features have been associated with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, however the role of ER stress in the mechanism/s leading to vascular dysfunction in childhood obesity remains still to be established.Objective and Hypotheses: To evaluate ER stress and insulin-sti...

Background: ROHHADNET syndrome affects children with normal development until 2–4 years of age.Objective and hypotheses: Aim of this study was to evaluate a possible role of autoimmunity in this disorder. In spite of a suspicion for genetic etiology, disease-associated genetic variations have not been identified. A paraneoplastic/autoimmune etiology has been suggested mainly because of the association with neural crest tumors....

Background: Muscle is key to glucose metabolism. Myogenesis is completed in early infancy, partly under the inhibitory control of myostatin, a myokine whose actions can be influenced by follistatin. Early lowering of myostatin actions is thus a potential strategy to reduce the risk for later diabetes.Objective and hypotheses: We performed a first screening of whether such lowering is among the natural mechanisms whereby some human infants augment their l...