ESPE Abstracts

Background: Children with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) show endocrine complications and metabolic alterations. The physiopathology of these conditions is not completely understood: iron overload due to chronic transfusions, ischemic damage, and inflammatory state related to vaso-occlusive crises may be involved. Aims of this study were to evaluate the growth pattern and the endocrine and metabolic alterations in a cohort of children with SCD and to detect the relationship between...

We present the case of a five-day female admitted to our Paediatric Unit due to TSH elevation (bTSH 303 mIU/L) on routine neonatal screening for congenital hypothyroidism (CH). The patient was born at 38 weeks’ gestation by c-section presenting with adequate auxological parameters. Her mother suffered from Hashimoto’s disease, already diagnosed before pregnancy, and requiring Levo-thyroxine therapy (L-T4). Blood tests performed at five days of life revealed the pre...

Background: Since COVID-19 the number of girls referred to pediatric endocrinologist for suspected precocious puberty (PP) and early puberty (EP) has increased. The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence, the anthropometric, biochemical and radiological characteristics of PP during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to previous years.Methods: We retrospectively evaluated medical records of 464 females (F) referred t...

Background: The initiation of puberty is dependent upon an augmentation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion from the hypothalamus. Development of the GnRH neuroendocrine network in embryonic life depends on coordinated migration of neurons from the vomeronasal organ in the nose to the forebrain. We have previously demonstrated that dysregulation in GnRH neuronal migration leads to delayed pubertal onset. Late puberty affects up to 2% of the ...

Background: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as flame retardants and have shown endocrine disruption properties in experimental studies. Preliminary studies in animal models have suggested a link between exposure to PBDE and alterations of puberty and reproduction.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the association between the exposure to PBDEs and alterations of puberty in girls, referred for idiopathic premature thelarche (IP...

Background: ROHHAD (rapid-onset obesity with hypoventilation, hypothalamic dysfunction, autonomic dysregulation) syndrome is a rare and underdiagnosed disease with high mortality rate. When a neural crest tumor (NET) is detected (56% of patients) the acronym used is ROHHADNET.Aim: To analyze the relationship between clinical variables, hypothalamic-pituitary disorders, DXA parameters and neural tumors, in ROHHADNET patie...

Background: ROHHAD/ROHHADNET syndrome (rapid-onset obesity with hypothalamic dysfunction, central hypoventilation, autonomic dysregulation with or without neural tumor - NET) – has been reported in association with cerebral venous thrombosis events, as reported also in central hypoventilation syndrome. It is not clear whether thrombotic risk represents a cause or a consequence of hypoventilation and hypothalamic dysfunction. Aim of our study was to chara...

Background: ROHHAD syndrome (rapid-onset obesity with hypothalamic dysfunction, central hypoventilation, autonomic dysregulation) – also defined as ROHHADNET when associated with neural tumors - is a rare condition with a high mortality rate. The aim of this study is to describe the phenotypes of a multicentric cohort of ROHHAD patients.Patients and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 22 patient...

Achondroplasia is the most common skeletal dysplasia caused by a gain of function of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3(FGFR3) that impairs endochondral ossification, exiting in short stature and altered bone microarchitecture. Although fractures and reduced bone mineralization are not comorbidities frequently reported, specific normative DXA data are lacking. Aim of the study was to assess bone density parameters in an Achondroplasia cohort. Fifty-seven patients (Female-...

Mosaic variegated aneuploidy (MVA) syndrome represents a rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by aneuploidies with gain and loss of multiple chromosomes. We describe case of two Moroccan brothers with MVA2, due to CEP57 mutations. Patients are 17 and 13-year-old male siblings of a Moroccan healthy consanguineous couple. Oldest brother was delivered at 35 gestational weeks after IGR diagnosis, small for gestational age (SGA, 1300 grams, -3 SDS). Younger patient’...