ESPE Abstracts

Background: A positive relationship between an individual surgeon’s operative volume and clinical outcomes after paediatric and adult thyroidectomy is well-established. The impact of a hospital’s paediatric operative volume on surgical outcomes and healthcare utilisation, however, are infrequently reported. We investigated associations between hospital volume and healthcare utilisation outcomes following paediatric thyroidectomy in Canada’s larg...

Background: There is increasing recognition that the in utero environment might influence obesity risk.Objective and Hypotheses: We explored the hypothesis that smoking and alcohol consumption in pregnancy are associated with offspring body composition using the Southampton Women’s Survey mother-offspring birth cohort study.Method: At 34 weeks’ gestation, maternal smoking and any alcohol intake in the preceding 1...

Background: The human foetal adrenal (FA) undergoes vast physiological changes as pregnancy progresses. Original descriptions of FA development emerged following morphometric studies from spontaneous/medical terminations. These revealed the greatest increase in FA size was during the first trimester. Recently, sonographic evaluation of human FA volume and length has led to the creation of normal FA growth centiles and correlations between FA size and estimated foetal weight (E...

Background: Craniopharyngioma is a non-malignant embryonic tumour in the pituitary-hypothalamic area, associated with hypothalamic obesity. Dysfunctional parasympathetic nervous system activity has been proposed as one mechanism underlying alterations in energy metabolism. Arterial spin labelling (ASL) is a non-invasive MRI technique that quantifies brain tissue perfusion as a proxy for functional activity. Here, we measure cerebral perfusion in patients with ...

Background: Craniopharyngioma is a non-malignant, embryological brain tumour in the sellar and parasellar region. Hypothalamic damage is common and accompanied by development of obesity in at least 50% of cases. Mechanisms underlying hypothalamic obesity in craniopharyngioma patients however remain unclear and treatment options are invasive and limited. This feasibility study included a novel application of functional neuroimaging, an established method in obe...

Background: Haplo-insufficiency of the Myelin-Regulatory Factor (MYRF) gene causes cardiac-urogenital syndrome (CUGS) and Differences in Sexual Development (DSD) in 46,XY and 46,XX (OMIM #618280). The gene product, a transcription factor, is involved in development of Coelomic epithelium derived cells, and likely causative for DSD. To date, only a few MYRF de novo variants are reported in children with DSD and associated CUGS symptoms.<s...

Background and aim: Metformin is widely used in Type 2 diabetes, with increasing reports of a potential bone protective role. We investigated the role of AMPK in mediating the effects of metformin on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation to either osteoblasts or adipocytes.Methods: Confluent mouse MSCs (C3H10T1/2), wild type (WT) and AMPK knockout (KO) mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) were treated with metformin(500 μM), AMPK-activator A769662(...

Background: While GH therapy forms the mainstay of growth promoting treatment for Turner syndrome (TS), adjunctive use of oxandrolone and optimal timing of pubertal induction remain controversial. The previously published interim analysis of this randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial demonstrated that oxandrolone and pubertal induction at 14y vs 12y significantly increased final height. However, these effects were not additive.Objective: To up...

Background: Neonatal vitamin D deficiency (VDD) can result in symptomatic hypocalcemia, seizures and cardiomyopathy and has been associated with reduced bone mineralization in childhood, but is potentially preventable with antenatal cholecalciferol supplementation. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the vitamin D metabolism pathway are associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in adulthood. We assessed whether maternal and/or offspring SNPs in ...

Background: Craniopharyngioma is a rare, suprasellar tumour, which, together with associated surgery or radiotherapy, results in damage to the hypothalamus and severe obesity in approximately 50% of cases. The multi-factorial mechanisms underlying the development of obesity in craniopharyngioma are not well understood. Hypothalamic damage in craniopharyngioma has been associated with dysfunctional parasympathetic nervous system activity leading to altered gluc...