ESPE Abstracts

Background: Male preterm infants are at increased risk of neonatal mortality when compared to their female counterparts. The mechanisms explaining this male disadvantage are not fully elucidated yet.Objective and hypotheses: To compare glucocorticoid metabolite excretion in urine obtained at day 10 between male and female infants born with a very low birth weight (VLBW; i.e. <1500 g). We hypothesized that male preterm infants have impaired adrenocort...

Background: Ectopic ACTH syndrome is very rarely seen in infancy, usually occurring in older children.Case presentation: A female infant was born by Caesarean section (BW 4280 g) with congenital anal atresia and a large tumour surrounding the cross-tail region. CT imaging identified a heterogeneous pelvic mass (76×49×38 mm) below the sacrum. On day 1 of life, a sigmoid colostomy was established and at age 1 week, part of the tumour with the coc...

Background: In type 1 diabetes (T1D), optimal glycaemic control requires intensive self-management to reduce the risk of complications. While routine downloading and review of blood glucose data is part of clinical practice of healthcare providers in an outpatient setting, patients and families are also educated, advised and encouraged to regularly download and review blood glucose data at home in order to make adjustments to insulin dosing for carbohydrate in...

Background: Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) is an X-linked hereditary disease with AR gene loss-of-function mutations in 46,XY patients. They undergoes poor development of secondary sex characteristics, except for breast development at puberty. AIS patients are prone to develop germ cell cancer, even though with lower incidence than in dysgenetic gonads secondary to defects in organogenesis.Case presentation: We described a 3-years-old gir...

Background: Congenital proopiomelanocortin deficiency (POMC) gene mutations cause early-onset obesity, hyperphagia and ACTH deficiency. In the subjects with this picture, neuropsychiatric (NP) features were rarely reported. Many Authors described an appetite loss during the topiramate treatment.Objective and hypotheses: To discuss NP features observed in a POMC deficient patient and to propose a therapeutic attempt to reduce the hyperphagia.<p class=...

Background: Hypothyroidism is a common problem during childhood generally due to autoimmune thyroid disease. It can also occur in case of severe loss of serum proteins, as well as in the case presented. The most accepted practice in the treatment of hypothyroidism consists in the oral administration of LT4. Many conditions may affect the absorption of LT4.Case presentation: We report an original case of LT4 malabsorption ...

Background: In a previous study, we reported that adult height (AH) outcomes in growth hormone treated males with Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) were negatively correlated with estradiol concentrations before start of puberty and in early puberty. Whether elevated estradiol concentrations originated from adrenal or testicular androgens is unclear. We aimed to describe androgen secretion patterns and investigate correlations between androgen concentrations and A...

Background: We have previously shown radioimmunoassay (RIA) and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) to be comparable when analyzing estradiol and testosterone concentrations in prepubertal and pubertal children. However, the reliability for steroid hormone determination with RIA in umbilical cord blood is not known. In general, older studies using RIA show higher values of testosterone, than more recent ones using MS/MS.Patients and me...

Background: Children with Silver Russell syndrome (SRS) suffer from severe intrauterine growth retardation. During infancy, short stature and delayed bone maturation are common features. A majority of these children initially have a good growth response to GH treatment. A catch-up period of skeletal maturation is often seen in early puberty. Later in puberty poor height acceleration may be seen.Objective and hypothesis: The objective of this study was to...

Background: Neural crest (NC) cells emerge at the interface between neural and non-neural ectoderm, and migrate extensively to form a variety of NC derivatives such as peripheral neurons, glia, melanocytes, endocrine cells, and mesenchymal precursor cells. NC cells possess various unique properties and are capable of undergoing cell fate decisions across multiple tissues and germ layers. In zebrafish and mouse, GnRH neurons are reported to arise also from NC.<p class="abst...