ESPE Abstracts

Background: Altered arterial stiffness is a recognized risk factor of poor cardiovascularhealth. Ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI, defined as one minus the regression slope of diastolic on systolic blood pressure values derived from a 24 h arterial blood pressure monitoring (ABPM)) is an upcoming and readily available marker of arterial stiffness. We tested the hypothesis that AASI is increased in obese children compared to healthy subjects.Meth...

Background: Cushing’s disease, due to ACTH-secreting pituitary adenomas, is rare in the pediatric age (0.2–0.5/ million people per year), although accounts for 75–80% of Cushing syndrome in childhood compared to 49–71% in adulthood. We report clinical presentation, diagnostic workup and treatment of a new case with major therapeutics problems.Case report: A 15-year-old girl was referred to our clinic because of secondary amenorrhea, a...

Background: Congenital proopiomelanocortin deficiency (POMC) gene mutations cause early-onset obesity, hyperphagia and ACTH deficiency. In the subjects with this picture, neuropsychiatric (NP) features were rarely reported. Many Authors described an appetite loss during the topiramate treatment.Objective and hypotheses: To discuss NP features observed in a POMC deficient patient and to propose a therapeutic attempt to reduce the hyperphagia.<p class=...

Background: Altered circadian and ultradian blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) rhythmicity has been described in many diseases with increased cardiovascular risk.Objective and hypotheses: We tested the hypothesis that rhythmicity in obese children is changed, compared to healthy subjects.Method: Circadian and ultradian BP and HR rhythmicity was assessed with Fourier analysis from 24-h ambulatory BP measurement (ABPM) in 75 obe...

Background: Genes in the HLA region confer about 50% of the genetic risk of type 1 diabetes (T1DM). More than 40 different genes give a minor contribution to T1DM risk, some of them are related to the immune function.Case presentation: A girl was referred at the age of 9 months with severe ketoacidosis in T1DM at onset. Anti-insulin autoantibodies were positive. She was the only daughter of unrelated Caucasian parents, born at term by vaginal delivery. T...

Background: Hypothyroidism is a common problem during childhood generally due to autoimmune thyroid disease. It can also occur in case of severe loss of serum proteins, as well as in the case presented. The most accepted practice in the treatment of hypothyroidism consists in the oral administration of LT4. Many conditions may affect the absorption of LT4.Case presentation: We report an original case of LT4 malabsorption ...

A 2.6-year-old girl of Egyptian origins comes to our attention due to a deflection of the growth rate. The girl was born small for gestational age (SGA), and is affected by congenital hypothyroidism, with normal sized thyroid, treated with Levothyroxine. At the age of 1.8, due to right lameness, an x-ray of pelvis and lower limbs was performed, as indicated by the orthopaedic. The examination showed absence of the distal tibial ossification nucleus in the right leg and entangl...

Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare genetic disease caused by mutations with loss of function in the ALPL gene, which encodes for non-specific tissue alkaline phosphatase (TNSALP). We report a case of infantile hypophosphatasia. Due to positive family history for hypophosphatasia, a chorionic villus sampling was made, with evidence in composed heterozygous of variants c.407G>A and c.1489T>C in the ALPL gene. At birth the patient did not have clinical complications, however ...

Background: Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is a genetic disorder consisting in a variable number of additional X chromosomes in a male individual. KS patients can rarely develop peripheral precocious puberty (PPP) caused by extragonadal germ cell cancers (eGCCs) producing hormones with androgenic activity. KS patients are at higher risk for eGCC when compared to the healthy populationCase report: We report the case of M., a 8...

Background: A variable prevalence of scoliosis has been reported in Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS). Clinical detection can be challenging. The role of GH therapy (GHT) in the onset and progression of scoliosis remains controversial as does the modality of screening.Objective and hypotheses: To define the prevalence of scoliosis in our PWS patients and analyse the role of age, gender, genotype, BMI, and GHT on its onset and severity.<p class="abstex...