ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Pediatric obesity is a global public health problem that is associated with severe cardiometabolic consequences. Weight management interventions focusing on lifestyles have shown some promising results, but attrition rates are often high and reasons for dropout are poorly understood.Objectives: We aimed toestimate the prevalence, and identify the determinants of attrition among pediatric participants in the first year of a 2-year lifestyle ...

Introduction: Pituitary adenomas (PA) in pediatric and young patients comprise a rare pathology of unknown prevalence. The majority are sporadic, but 5% occur in a familial setting, either as isolated (FIPA) or as part of a syndrome. The identification of genetic alterations has broaden the scope of molecular investigations. We describe the clinical characteristics of patients with sporadic PA arising before the age of 35 years and perform thorough genetic scr...

Background/Aims: 46,XY gonadal dysgenesis (GD) is classified as complete (CGD) or partial (PGD) depending on gonadal morphology and function. In contrast to the typical female external genitalia in CGD, the phenotype of PGD is variable depending on androgen production. A diagnosis of PGD is based on clinical/biochemical features, gonadal histology and genetic findings. The aim of this study is to characterise these features, particularly histological, in a lar...

Background: Pain represents one of the most stressful experiences for children undergoing medical therapies (Kortesluoma, 2008), but is under represented in literature for what concerns pediatric endocrinology. Children consider Injections one of the most painful, frighteningand distressing procedures (Fassler, 1985). The treatment for patients with Growth Hormone Deficiency requires daily subcutaneous injection, performed by parents or patients themselves. Th...

Background: Neonatal hypocalcemia is a common disorder, occurring more often in premature, low birth weight and asphyxiated infants, as in infants born to mothers with diabetes. Nevertheless its aetiology is heterogeneous ranging from iatrogenic, idiopathic and inherited metabolic abnormalities. Among these, Autosomal Dominant Hypocalcemia (ADH) is a rare syndrome characterized by the presence of inappropriately low concentration of circulating parathyroid hor...

Background: The short stature homeobox-containing (SHOX) gene, located in the telomeric pseudoautosomal region 1 (PAR1) on the short arm of both sex chromosomes, is important for linear growth.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of our study was to evaluate the presence of SHOX gene deletions/point mutations in children with short stature in order to understand the role of SHOX gene in idiopathic short stature (ISS) and estimate its frequency.<p class=...

Preliminary results:Objective: Although low birthweight (bw) and unfavourable intrauterine conditions have been associated with metabolic sequelae in later life, little is known about their impact on steroid metabolism. We studied genetically identical twins with intra-twin bw-differences from birth to adolescence to analyse the long-term impact of bw on steroid metabolism.Methods:...

Introduction: Italy was the first EU country to be affected by COVID-19 outbreak. The sudden change in everyday life was challenging for children and young people (CYP) who rely heavily on peer connections for emotional and social support. Concerns for consequences in CYP with type 1 diabetes (T1D) rose.Objectives: To compare the diabetes-specific health-related quality of life (D-HRQOL) of CYP with T1D and their parents...

Background: Rare genetic diseases of obesity are often driven by gene variants in the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) pathway. The MC4R agonist setmelanotide demonstrated significant reductions in body weight in patients ≥6 years old with various rare genetic diseases of obesity, including proopiomelanocortin (POMC), proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 1 (PCSK1), or leptin receptor (LEPR) deficiency and Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS). While these condit...

Birth chest circumference(CC) shows often, like birth gestational age(GA), tight direct relations to birth body weight(BW). However distinct connections of hypoxia/undernutrition with different body structures might be suspected based on brain-, heart- and adrenal-sparing following intrauterine growth restriction and, postnatally, on higher chest size for body mass observed at high altitude. Growth retarded fetuses gestated by hypoxic rats may present increments of blood serum...