ESPE Abstracts

Background: Recognizing the risk of developing obesity is essential to implement preventive measures to avoid the increasing prevalence of obesity in adulthood.Objective: To evaluate predictive factors that may be associated with overweight and obesity in early adulthood.Method: A regression analysis of different variables of body composition in a normal population have been done. The sample consisted of 122 boys and 120 girls foll...

Background: Several studies in adults have provided evidence for opioid-induced hypofunction of the hypothalamo-pituitary–adrenal and GH–IGF1 axis after chronic (oral and intrathecal) administration. This so-called opioid endocrinopathy has not been reported in children.Objective and hypotheses: We report the occurrence of delayed growth with low serum IGF1 levels and recurrent hypoglycemia due to central hypocorticism in a toddler after a pres...

Background: Disorders of sex development (DSD) characterize incomplete or disorganized genital or gonadal development. One in 4500 births requires genetic and endocrine studies due to abnormal external genitalia or gonadal dysgenesis and only 50% of the cases receive a definitive diagnosis. There are several genes that participate in both sex determination and differentiation processes. Mutations in NR5A1 gene, which encoding SF1, a transcription factor, are responsib...

Background: Elastargene 3C (E3C) is a cream specifically designed to improve lipoatrophy in patients with diabetes. It is made by many ingredients, among whom are elastin, arnica, collagen, caffeine, and L-carnitine.Objective and hypotheses: We started a 6-month, double-blind, randomized trial to test the efficacy of E3C in children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) using insulin pump (CSII), in whom infusion set usually left little withe scars.<...

Background and aims. In several European countries, the incidence of primary congenital hypothyroidism (PCH) seems to increase in the last decade, especially in countries that have lowered the newborn screening TSH cutoff. In Flanders, two centers manage since 2012 the newborn screening for PCH and these maintained the same TSH assay (Delphia, Perkin Elmer) and cutoff (15 mU/l). We studied the current incidence and etiology of PCH and initiation of thyroxine treatment in Fland...

Background: Secondary forms of diabetes mellitus (DM) are underdiagnosed in children and adolescents with cancer because despite the whole body of evidence that asparaginase, steroids and total body irradiation increase the risk of developing DM, risk factors are missing and – asides from treatments – understudied (e.g., pre-existing obesity, sex, age, ethnicity, family history of DM). The objectives of our study were to assess the incidence and asso...

Background: Children with biallelic GHRHR gene pathogenic variants share a phenotype of growth failure starting in infancy and resulting in a proportionate short stature and bone age delay due to a complete isolated growth hormone (GH) deficiency. The genotype ranges from rare promotor mutations to the more frequent splicing mutations, some genotypes being specific to certain geographic areas. Diagnosis is mainly made around the age of 7 years and more often i...

Background: In boys with suspected delayed puberty, serum testosterone is used for the evaluation of gonadal function. It is known that early in puberty testosterone levels show a sleep wake rhythm, with nocturnal levels increasing ahead of daytime levels. To evaluate the onset of puberty, the use of salivary testosterone would be an appealing alternative to serum analysis as it is non-invasive and allows multiple nocturnal sampling. Moreover, it is thought that salivary testo...

Background: Silver Russell syndrome (SRS) is characterized by low birth weight, severe postnatal short stature and distinctive facies. In ~50% of patients, (epi)genetic alterations can be detected (~40% hypomethylation of H19 on chromosome 11, ~10% maternal uniparental disomy (UPD) 7). As SRS patients are usually born small for gestational age (SGA), they are treated with GH to improve height. However, data on long-term effects of GH treatment in SRS patients are very limited....

Background: Preterm birth is associated with hypertension and increased fat contents in later life. Salt sensitivity (SS) could be a mechanism underlying this relationship. In adults SS has been recognised as a cause of hypertension that is related to low birth weight and obesity.Objective and hypotheses: We studied the prevalence of SS in 7–8-year old children born <32 weeks of gestation and/or with a birth weight <1500 g as well as its rel...