ESPE Abstracts

Background and Aim: Adult height predictions by the manual Bayley and Pinneau (BP) method in tall boys have shown large confidence intervals up to a bone age of 15 years. The adult height (AH) BoneXpert prediction method, which is based on an automated bone age reading, has not been evaluated in tall adolescents. We therefore compared the bias between the manual BP method and the BoneXpert (BE) method in tall male Flemish adolescents.Pat...

Introduction: Human growth is a multifactorial process involving genetic, hormonal, nutritional and environmental factors. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have shown that >400 genes are associated with adult height. African Baka Pygmies represent an isolated and well-confined small population with short stature of unknown etiology. In previous studies we reported an 8-fold reduced GH receptor gene expression and reduced serum levels of IGF-I and GHB...

Introduction: Peripheral precocious puberty is a non-gonadotropin-dependent early pubertal development. Exogenous intake of sex steroids, gonadal or adrenal pathologies, ectopic hCG-secreting lesions play a role in the etiology. Adrenal tumors is a rare cause of heterosexual precocious puberty.Case: An eight-year-old female patient was admitted with the complaints of genital hair growth and breast enlargement. The patien...

Background: Rathke’s cleft cyst (RCC) has been reported rarely in children and adolescents. The occurrence of RCC with hypoplastic anterior pituitary can be explained by their common embryologic origin. However, the effects and sfety of recombinant human GH (rhGH) in GH deficient (GHD) children with RCC has not been previously reported.Objective and hypotheses: To assess the effects and safety of recombinant human GH (rhGH) in GH deficient (GHD) chi...

Objective: To assess the effects and safety of recombinant human GH (rhGH) in GH deficient (GHD) children with Rathke cyst.Methods: The clinical data of 12 GHD children aged from 5–12 years old, whose radiologic diagnosis showed Rathke cyst during Jan 2010–Dec 2012 in our hospital, were analyzed retrospectively. rhGH was given subcutaneously to each enrolled child with a night dose of 0.1 IU/kg six to seven times a week for 12–30 months. T...

Three patients from two unrelated families in Malta; one consanguineous (siblings: Patient 1, male and Patient 2, female) and one non-consanguineous (Patient 3, male), manifested hypogonadotropic hypogonadism with delayed puberty, intellectual disability, scoliosis, and ataxia with cerebellar hypoplasia on MRI. GnRH tests revealed low peak LH and FSH concentrations in the patients: Patient 1; LH 2.3 IU/L, FSH 4.4 IU/L (14.3y), Patient 2; LH 3.6 IU/L, FSH 6.4 IU/L (12.5y), Pati...

Monogenic forms of diabetes have specific treatments that differ from the standard care provided for type 1 and type 2 diabetes, making the appropriate diagnosis essential. Misclassification of all diabetes types may occur and healthcare providers should be aware of this possibility. A systematic approach to subjects who are newly diagnosed with diabetes can assist classification of common forms of diabetes and identify those in whom molecular investigation would be advantageo...

Diseases of food restriction, such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa, are psychiatric conditions with the highest mortality. It is not known how these disorders emerge and what determine mortality. Individuals with these disorders frequently engage in compulsive exercise. States of food restriction are associated with elevated activity of hypothalamic neurons that produce AgRP, which cells are crucial for feeding and can promote stereotypic behaviors.Here,...

Background: Infantile Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is an inborn error of metabolism characterized by low serum alkaline phosphatase activity caused by loss-of-function mutations within the ALPL-gene encoding the tissue nonspecific isoenzyme of ALP (TNSALP). TNSALP controls skeletal and dental mineralization by hydrolyzing inorganic pyrophosphate, a potent inhibitor of bone mineralization. Patients develop substantial skeletal disease, failure to thrive, and sometime...

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder characterized by severe hypophagia, high levels of physical activity, harsh weight loss and an intense fear of weight gain. It has the highest mortality rate among psychiatric illnesses and, due to the unknown underlying neurobiology, it is challenging to treat. Agouti-related protein (AgRP) neurons, which are localized in the arcuate nucleus in the hypothalamus, are both necessary and sufficient or feeding in adult animals. To uncov...