ESPE Abstracts

Background: Pubertal gynecomastia is a common condition appearing in up to 65% of adolescent boys. However, if male breast development is over B3–B4 and lasts more than 2–3 years, persistent pubertal gynecomastia (PPG) may be the sign of serious endocrine disease and the source of considerable psychological discomfort.Objective and hypotheses: We investigated a cohort of 24 adolescents with PPG followed at the Pediatric Endocrinogy Unit over a ...

Background: The morphological and biochemical phenotype of Paired Box Domain Gene PAX8 mutation in patients with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is variable. The contribution of mutations in PAX8 gene in children with CH and dysgenetic or orthotopic thyroid glands still remains a subject of interest of researchers.Objective and hypotheses: This study presents mutational analysis of the PAX8 gene in patients with primary CH.Method: 5...

Background: Subtle impairments in the thyroid function of pregnant women are associated with poorer scores on mental developmental scales in their children at age 2–3 years, and with reduced performance in a simple reaction time test at 5–6 years. However, associations with school performance estimates have never been studied.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to assess the effect of normal variation in the maternal thyroid function during earl...

Background: Arterial hypertension (AH) is one of the most common and the earliest complications of childhood obesity. It is diagnosed on the basis of at least three results of the standard setting measurements of systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure. Nevertheless, some data suggest, that this diagnostic standard may be not sufficient for obese children, because some BP abnormalities, unique for these patients, (decrease of night dip, elevated SBP/DBP load) cannot ...

Background: Isolated premature thelarche (IPT) is characterised by precocious breast development without any other signs of puberty.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of the study was to analyze hormonal activity of the pituitary – ovarian axis in girls with IPT.Method: 102 girls with IPT (Tanner stage 2–3), mean age 2±1.4 years (0.04–7 years), mean weight 12.3±4.3 kg, mean height 85.0±13.6 cm (45±...

Introduction: Pilocytic astrocytoma is the most common type of CNS astrocytoma in children. Clinical manifestations depend on its location and size and initial symptoms are usually related to neurological deficits or signs and symptoms of intracranial hypertension. Involvement of the hypothalamic area, pituitary infundibulum and leptomeningeal spread are exceptional. The case of a patient with central precocious puberty in whom the initial neuroimaging study oriented the diagn...

Background: Gonadal hyperfunction is the most frequent endocrine dysfunction in females with McCune–Albright syndrome (MAS), and precocious puberty (PP) is usually the first manifestation of MAS in children.Objective and hypotheses: The optimal pharmacologic treatment of PP in girls with MAS has not been yet identified and new therapeutic options like anti-estrogen should be taken under consideration especially in patients with extreme high estradio...

Background: One of the crucial aspects of the management of disorders of sex development is the assessment of the risk of malignant transformation of a dysgenetic gonad.Objective and hypotheses: The PCR analysis of germ-cell risk factors as the presence of the TSPY gene may be helpful in decision making of an early gonadectomy.Results: We report a 46,Xdel(Y)p11.3 girl with gonadal dysgenesis, that was referred to the Depar...

Background: Autoimmune thyroid diseases are multifactorial diseases with a genetic susceptibility and environmental factors. A potential role of the protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 22 (PTPN22) gene, the interferon induced helicase domain 1 (IFIH1) gene, the TSH receptor (TSH-R) gene polymorphisms on autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) in children has not been established equivocally yet.Objective and hypotheses: To estimate the association...

Background: In order to prevent virilization in CAH female fetuses, physicians have during the last thirty years used the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone (DEX) as a therapeutic approach administered during early pregnancy. Due to the fact that treatment has to be started before the genotype of the fetus is known, seven out of eight treated fetuses will be subjected to high doses of DEX during early embryogenesis without benefit. Therefore, negative side effects cannot b...