ESPE Abstracts

Background: Hypercalcaemia in infants may reach extreme levels due to hyperparathyroidism, subcutaneous fat necrosis, or vitamin D intoxication. Normal values for p-parathyroid hormone and p-calcitriol prompt search for other causes.Methods: Hospital file evaluation, case report.Results: A 5½-months-old Caucasian girl of non-consanguineous healthy parents was referred due to w...

Background: Obesity in childhood and adolescence represents a major health problem of our century, and accounts for a significant increase in morbidity and mortality in adulthood. In addition to the increased consumption of calories and lack of exercise, accumulating evidence suggests that childhood obesity is strongly associated with prolonged and excessive activation of the stress system.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of our study was to assess the ...

Background: Neonatal over-nutrition (NON) can increase the propensity to become overweight and develop associated metabolic disturbances in later life. Moreover, some of these long-term effects are sexually dimorphic.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to determine how NON affects body weight (BW), body composition and triglyceride (TG) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) levels. We hypothesized that the effects would be both age and sex dependant.<...

Background: Growth in infancy is considered primarily to be regulated by nutrition and insulin, whereas less is known about the influence of IGF-I, reproductive hormones and other factors of importance. Recently, paternally inherited genetic defects of DLK1 (Delta-like 1 homolog) were found in girls with central precocious puberty (CPP) with a metabolic phenotype. In addition, low maternal serum DLK1 concentrations were significantly lower in pregnant women wh...

Introduction: Male puberty is initiated by endocrine signaling in the hypothalamic-pituitary axis whereby follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) enable testicular maturation and synthesis of testosterone. Recent publications have eluded to overnutrition and obesity as relevant factors that may accelerate the timing of puberty. Attainment of testicular volume (TV) 4 ml measured by Prader orchidometer remains the definition of male puber...

Background: There is limited data supporting concerns that systemic corticosteroids, prescribed in pregnancy for maternal health reasons, can suppress the neonatal Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis. Our study aimed to determine if neonates born to mothers on long-term or high dose steroids are at risk of adrenal suppression.Methodology: Neonates who underwent assessment of adrenal function over a seven-year perio...

Introduction: Excessive androgen secretion from gonads, adrenal gland and tumors arising from germ cells lead to gonadotropin independent precocious puberty in male and virilization in females. Rapid progression of symptoms with peripheral precocity need urgent evaluation to identify the underlying etiology. We report three cases of malignancy with excess androgen secretion within a year in a tertiary care children hospital in Sri Lanka....

Introduction: Bartter syndrome (BS) is a rare genetic renal tubular disorder characterized by hypokalemia, salt-wasting and metabolic alkalosis. Polyuria, polydipsia, hypokalemia and salt loss are responsible for the growth retardation seen in BS. Persistent growth failure despite optimizing medical therapy may be due to growth hormone (GH) deficiency.Case diagnosis and treatment: A 9-year-old girl diagnosed with Bartter...

Background: Evaluation of the external genitalia is very important in the routine neonatal examination, since abnormalities of the genitalia give clues to underlying endocrine disorders or serious structural malformations. This is the first report regarding the stretched penile length (SPL) of newborns from Sri Lanka.Objective and hypotheses: The objectives of the study were to document the SPL of healthy term neonates born following an uncomplicated del...

Background: Telomere length at birth is a major determinant of telomere length at later ages, up into senescence. However, the prenatal setting of telomere length is poorly understood. Individuals born large are at lower risk for later-life disorders, such as diabetes, than those born small, a feature of their longer health span being a higher lean mass that provides more muscle strength and is already present in infancy.Objective and hypotheses: To asse...