ESPE Abstracts

Background: Cytochrome P450 side-chain cleavage enzyme (CYP11A1 gene) catalyses the conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone in steroidogenic cells, the first step in the biosynthesis of all steroid hormones. SCC deficiency has been established as an autosomal recessive disorder caused by inactivating homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in the CYP11A1 gene, with a wide phenotypic spectrum ranging from prematurity, complete underandrogenization and severe early-onset...

Background: The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis responds to several acute or chronic environmental stessors, including those of social stress.Objective and hypotheses: To assess the HPA axis acute response during mental stress and mobile phone call exposure in healthy adolescents through salivary cortisol measurements and to investigate the modulatory effect of baseline biochemical or low-inflammation markers during this response....

Background: Diabetes is a recognised long term sequelae in childhood cancer survivors following bone marrow transplantation and total body irradiation (BMT/TBI), due to a combination of insulin deficiency and resistance.Aim: To characterise presentation, treatment and clinical course of diabetes in childhood leukaemia survivors post BMT/TBI.Method: A single centre retrospective case note review of diabetes post BMT/TBI identified f...

Background: Cataract as a chronic complication of diabetes is well established in the literature and the risk factors are also well known. However, rare cases of acute bilateral cataract have been reported, all of them happening relatively shortly after diagnosis in T1DM. While the pathophysiology of this phenomenon remains unclear – as a lot of different theories proposed so far with the most accepted being the osmotic stress induced oxidative damage – fail to expla...

Background: A significant component of total linear growth is height gain achieved after the initiation of puberty. Children with Isolated GH Deficiency (IGHD) frequently come for evaluation around the peripubertal stage. Therefore, increasing pubertal height gain in IGHD children entering puberty with a relatively low height is important. Researchers have tried to assess effectiveness of treatment in such patients based on various key measurements and a variety of end-points....

Background: Adult survivors of childhood leukaemia treated Bone marrow transplantation with total body irradiation (BMT/TBI) have an increased risk of diabetes mellitus (DM) disproportionate to their level of adiposity or other recognised risk factors. Post prandial hyperglycaemia due to reduced β-cell reserve after irradiation will be missed by fasting glucose (FG) levels. However, the UK National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) screening guidelines recommend the...

Introduction: Osteogenesis imperfecta is a rare disease leading to immobility by recurrent fractures, hyperlaxicity of ligaments, short stature and muscular weakness. Beside drug treatment and surgical procedures physiotherapy is one of the most important treatment approaches to increase mobility. The objective of our analysis was to evaluate the effect of a new standardized 12 months physiotherapy concept including whole body vibration over 6 months on motor function and bone...

Background: In recent years, studies have consistently demonstrated higher TSH concentrations in overweight/obese children and adults compared with normal weight individuals, whereas the levels of thyroid hormones in peripheral blood remain within normal range. This euthyroid hyperthyrotropinemia on the background of a worldwide increase in childhood obesity raises the question of whether subjects with this elevated TSH should be treated.Objective and hy...

Background: We have recently reported a BMI-SDS increase in girls with Turner syndrome (TS) treated with growth hormone (GH) (1).Objective and hypothesis: We hypothesise that puberty induction in TS is associated with weight gain.Method: We analysed the weight changes (BMI-SDS) of 888 girls with TS in the Pfizer International Growth Database (KIGS). Overweight was defined by a BMI >90th percentile and obesity by a BMI >97th...

Background: Childhood haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and total body irradiation (HSCT/TBI) survivors have multiple risk factors for reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and poor growth. Reduced z-scores from dual energy x-Ray absorptiometry (DEXA) have been reported, but are unreliable in patients with short stature/abnormal body composition.Objective: To investigate the influence of HSCT/TBI on size-corrected BMD in childhood leukaemia ...