ESPE Abstracts

Bone age (BA) continues to be a valuable tool in assessing children’s growth potential. Children with normal variant short stature can be subdivided into idiopathic short stature (ISS) (with no delay in BA versus chronological age (CA) and constitutional delay (CDG) (with delayed BA versus CA. The response of these two groups to GH therapy remains controversial.Aim, patients, and methods: We studied linear growth, weight gain, skeletal maturation, a...

Introduction: Children with idiopathic short stature have linear growth impairment despite normal or even high levels of GH. In some of these children IGFI level is low (NGH + Low IGFI (IGFSDS<-1.5). It was observed that some children with GHD (Peak GH < 7 ng/dl after provocation) have normal IGFI levels (GHD +Normal IGFI). The linear growth of these two groups at presentation and their response to GH therapy was not studied well.<p class="abstext"...

In normal children, mid parental height (MPH) is a useful tool in assessing children’s growth and in the prediction of their final adult height. However, this may not be true for short children, especially those with height SD (HtSDS) > - 1SDS compared to their mid-parental height SDS (MPHtSDS). The difference may indicate underlying pathology.Aim: To assess growth response (change in HtSDS) to GH therapy in short prepubertal ch...

Background: Idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) is highly genetically heterogeneous. To date, about 50 causative genes have been identified, estimated to account for up to 50% of hereditary cases. With next generation sequencing (NGS) technology now in wide clinical use, it is increasingly possible to determine the underlying genetic etiology of isolated and combined pituitary hormone deficiencies.Objective: We...

Background and Objective: Homozygous mutations in the “Centrosomal Protein-19 (CEP19)” gene are extremely rare causes of early-onset severe monogenic obesity. We, herein, report three siblings with CEP19 mutation.Case Presentation and Method: The index case was a 12-years-old female who presented with severe obesity (BMI:62.7kg/m2), metabolic syndrome and diabetic ketoacidosis. Her non-identical twin female s...

Background: Automimmune polyendocrinopathy candidiasis ectodermal dystrophy (APECED) is an extremely rare autoimmune condition caused by AIRE (autoimmune regulator) gene mutations and characterised by a classic triad of 1) chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, 2) hypoparathyroidism and 3) adrenal insufficiency. APECED can involve any endocrine or non-endocrine organ. Consequently, clinicians need to be mindful of the great variability in presentation. Although ad...

Introduction: Very little is known about the development of the immune system during puberty. Autoimmune diseases, like juvenile onset systemic lupus erythematosus (jSLE), have an unexplained female bias and a higher incidence after puberty. IFN alpha (IFNα) is a potent antiviral cytokine, and jSLE has a strong IFNα transcriptional signature. Toll like receptors 7 and 9 (TLR7/9) sense viral RNA and DNA respectively, and trigger plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) to p...

Introduction: There are well described sex differences in the immune system. It has been shown in both innate and adaptive immunity that females have a more robust response than males. Various autoimmune diseases have a strong sex bias towards females. It is the accepted dogma that oestrogen in females relates to an increased risk of autoimmunity, but evidence to this end is scarce. Interferon alpha (IFNα) is a potent anti-viral innate cytokine, and many autoimmune diseas...

Background: Thyroid hormones are essential in the regulation of foetal and post-natal neurodevelopment. Despite early diagnosis and treatment of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) difficulties with language, hearing, memory and motor function persist for some children. However, comprehensive data about hearing, language and communication function in children with CH are not widely available.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate hearing, language and communic...

Introduction: There is still controversy for priming with sex steroid before GH testing.Objective and hypotheses: We studied GH response to stimulation in 92 children >9 years with idiopathic short stature (HtSDS −2). They were divided randomly into two groups. Children in group 1 (n=50) were primed with premarin in girls and testosterone in boys and those in group 2 were not primed (n=42). All children were tested using stand...