ESPE Abstracts

Background: Hypoglycaemia due to congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) usually presents early (E-CHI) in the neonatal period, but late presentation (age >1 month) (L-CHI) also occurs. Adverse neurodevelopment is well recognised in both early and late CHI, but differences between both groups are not known.Objective and hypotheses: We examined a cohort of children with E-CHI and L-CHI to test neurodevelopmental outcomes in mid-childhood.<p class="abstex...

Background: Pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1 (PHA1) is a rare disorder of neonatal salt loss unresponsive to mineralocorticoids, requiring salt supplementation. It results from resistance of kidney and/or other tissues to mineralocorticoids, arising from mutations in genes encoding mineralocorticoid receptor (MR: NR3C2; autosomal dominant), or epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) genes (SCNN1A/B/G; autosomal recessive). Milder clinical phenotype associates with ren...

Background: The Dutch HYPOthalamic and PITuitary gene (HYPOPIT) study investigates the genetic and non-genetic causes of isolated growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) and combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD). Former projects within the HYPOPIT study showed that only a small minority of the Dutch IGHD and CPHD cases could be explained by mutations in GH1, GHRHR, HMGA2 and CDK6 in IGHD patients and PROP1, HESX1, POU1F1, LHX3</...

Background: Childhood obesity is still increasing worldwide. Early recognition of overweight or obesity in children by healthcare professionals is of utmost importance, allowing interventions to start at a young age.Objective and hypotheses: We studied whether healthcare professionals adequately perceive preschool children’s overweight and whether this is influenced by their own BMI.Method: Healthcare professionals received a ...

Background: Severe short stature is considered when height falls below −4 SDS. When infants with extreme short stature are evaluated, often multidisciplinary input is required, before a formal diagnosis is met.Objective and hypotheses: We want to learn from delayed diagnosis of child with panhypopituitarism and review subsequent difficulties in starting GH treatment.Method: Retrospective review of notes, investigations and pa...

Background: Neonatal hyperthyrotropinaemia (HT) is defined by elevated TSH and normal fT4. HT is an increasingly common diagnosis and may be transient or permanent. There is a often a diagnostic dilemma whether to treat to prevent subclincal hypothyroidism or to wait thereby avoiding the risks of iatrogenic hyperthyroidism.Objective and hypotheses: To examine a large population of infants referred to a tertiary centre over one year and determi...

Introduction: Recombinant Growth Hormone (GH) has changed the lives of many patients with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). GH treatment has beneficial effects on body composition, physical performance, cognition, psychomotor development, respiratory function and quality of life of patients with PWS. Due to the narrow therapeutic range, GH treatment is subject to strict limits. Clinicians measure serum immunoreactive Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 ('total IGF-I&#...

Introduction: Mutations in the thyroid hormone (TH) transporter MCT8 result in MCT8 deficiency, which is characterized by severe intellectual and motor disability and high serum T3 concentrations inducing thyrotoxicity in peripheral tissues. At present, no effective treatment is available, although preclinical studies suggest that the T3 analog Triac is a promising candidate to i) normalize serum T3 levels and thus alleviate the thyrotoxicosis and ii) restore TH signaling in t...

Background: Patients with a mutation in the thyroid hormone (TH) receptor TRα1 are characterized by growth retardation, delayed bone development, mild cognitive defects and constipation. They also have abnormal TH levels: low FT4, high T3, and low rT3 levels, suggesting an altered peripheral TH metabolism by deiodinases. The type 3 deiodinase (D3) inactivates TH by catalyzing the degradation of T3. D3 is importantly expressed in...

Background: Recently, the first patients with resistance to thyroid hormone (RTHα) due to inactivating mutations in TRα1 have been identified. These patients are characterized by growth retardation, delayed bone development, mild cognitive defects, delayed motor development and abnormal thyroid function tests.Objective and hypotheses: We hypothesized that the phenotype of a TRα mutation depends on its location, e.g. if it is present only i...