ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: The short stature homeobox-containing gene, SHOX, encodes a homeodomain transcription factor responsible for a significant proportion of long-bone growth. Growth impairment is a common manifestation in SHOX deficient patients (SHOXD), with variable degrees of height disablement. The growth promoter treatment of SHOXD patients consists in the administration of recombinant human GH (rhGH). In Italy, the allowed formulation of rhGH (somatropine, Hum...

Introduction: The IGSF1 gene deficiency syndrome (IDS) is an X-linked disorder involving hormonal disfunctions. We report a case of Central Hypothyroidism (CH) due to a Xq26.1q26.2 microdeletion including the IGSF1 gene.Case: this boy was referred to our clinic for thyroid dysfunction. He was born at term by caesarean section due to maternal uterine myoma. Pregnancy was normal, parents were non consangu...

Background: The acid-labile subunit (ALS) is the crucial third player in the tertiary complex for its function of prolonging the half-life of the IGF1-IGFBP3 binary complexes. IGF1 and IGFBP3 are routinely determined during the diagnostic work-up for growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The aim of the study is to evaluate the relevance of serum ALS as an additional biomarker, alone or in combination with IGF1 and IGFBP3, in the diagnosis of GHD.<p class="abste...

Introduction: The term lipodystrophy describes a rare disease subdivided into a heterogenous group of even rarer subforms. The rarity of this disease makes research in this area extremely difficult and international co-operation is mandatory to accumulate data sets of sufficient size. The European Consortium of Lipodystrophy (ECLip) consisting of an association of European experts in the field of lipodystrophy has therefore decided to set up a registry for patients with lipody...

Background: The most common endocrine cause of growth disorders in childhood is growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The rare monogenic forms of GHD are inherited as autosomal dominant or recessive traits and manifest as isolated deficiency or in combination with other hormone deficiencies. Here, we report on a three-year-old girl with a severe growth retardation (height 77 cm, – 5.6 S.D.S.). She is the only child of non-consanguineous parents from northern Ira...

Background: Despite high survival rates in childhood craniopharyngioma, prognosis is frequently impaired due to sequelae. Radical surgery was the treatment of choice for several decades. However, even at experienced surgical facilities radical surgery can result in hypothalamic disorders such as severe obesity.Objective and hypotheses: We analyzed, whether treatment strategies for childhood craniopharyngioma patients recruited in German studies (KRANIOPH...

Background: Macroprolactinomas in children below 10 years of age are rare. Usually prolactinomas respond well to dopamine agonists so that neurosurgical resection is rarely necessary. For non-responders to dopamine agonist therapy other extended treatment options have to be considered.Clinical case: We report a 14-year-old boy who presented at the age of 11 years with headaches for 5 years and progressive bilateral vision problems. The diagnosis of a mac...

Background: Children and adolescents with chronic conditions are at increased risk of secondary osteoporosis. In adult patients, long-term anticoagulation (LTA) including Vitamin K antagonist (VKA) treatment is associated with lower bone mineral density and hip fractures. In children and adolsescent, risk factors for impaired skeletal health and the role of LTA on bone metabolism during the vulnerable phase of linear bone growth remain poorly defined.<p cl...

Cowden syndrome (CS) is a cancer predisposition syndrome. The clinical hallmarks of CS are macrocephaly and mucocutaneous lesions. Several tumor types have been described, mostly malignancies of the breast, thyroid, endometrium, kidney and colorectum. The age of onset is extremely variable. So far, only two case reports of children with ovarian tumors in the context of CS have been published, a granulosa cell tumor of a 16-year-old girl (Smpokou et al. 2014) and a bilateral en...

Introduction: Most children with isolated GH deficiency (GHD) show a normal GH secretion upon reaching final height (FH). The aimof our study was to identify the predictive factors of persistent GHD and the correlation with the response to recombinant GH (rhGH) therapy in terms of height gain upon reaching FH and compared to target height (TH).Method: In this retrospective study, we evaluated medical records of GHD subje...