ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: The term lipodystrophy describes a rare disease subdivided into a heterogenous group of even rarer subforms. The rarity of this disease makes research in this area extremely difficult and international co-operation is mandatory to accumulate data sets of sufficient size. The European Consortium of Lipodystrophy (ECLip) consisting of an association of European experts in the field of lipodystrophy has therefore decided to set up a registry for patients with lipody...

Background: The diagnosis of GH deficiency in children is based on clinical, auxological, radiographic and biochemical criteria which include response to Pharmacological Estimulation Tests (PhT). It is well known that GH concentrations vary according to the assay method used. Currently in our population, the proposed cut-off value of serum GH PhT is 4.7 ng/ml measured by ICMA using the IRP 98/574.Objective and hypotheses: The aims of this study were to d...

Background: Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is characterized by a switch in early childhood from failure to thrive to excessive weight gain and hyperphagia with impaired satiety. The underlying mechanism for this switch may involve hyperghrelinemia, but only poor data exists regarding levels of acylated ghrelin (AG), unacylated ghrelin (UAG), and the AG/UAG ratio in PWS.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate plasma levels of AG and UAG in PWS, compare...

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:...

Background: The most common form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia is 21-hydroxylase deficiency (CAH). In women with classic CAH, the fertility rate is lower than in the general female population, and an increased rate of miscarriages has been reported. There are no data on the incidence rate of miscarriages in families with an offspring that have classic CAH.Methods: The families came from different parts of Germany and attended the annual meeting of th...

Background: Low birth weight (bw) and unfavourable intrauterine conditions are associated with a subsequent impact on the endocrine system. However, very little is known about the impact on thyroid function.Objective and hypotheses: In a longitudinal study we observed genetically identical twins with intra-twin bw-differences from birth until adolescence to objectify the impact of a lower bw on development and health in later life....

Background: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common rheumatic disease seen in children. The systemic features of JIA are mediated by cytokine products of an activated immune system. Recent studies showed that the median level of urine cortisol in active JIA patients is significantly lower than remission period and control groups.Objective and hypotheses: One of the najor drugs in JIA is TNFα blocker (Enbrel). The aim of the study was ...

Background: Various endocrine complications are common after HSCT but primary adrenal insufficiency (Addison’s disease, AD) is absolutely rare. To the best of our knowledge, there is only one case of AD reported in a 9-year-old girl after HSCT and busulfan and cyclophosaphamide-based conditioning for myelodysplastic syndrome.Objective: We report on a 14-year-old boy from Albania who developed an Addisonian crisis 12.7 years after HSCT.<p class="...

Background: Current guidelines recommend the priming with low-dose testosterone in prepubertal boys prior to growth hormone stimulation tests. To our knowledge, only few adverse events after low-dose testosterone have been described so far.Objective and hypotheses: To assess possible side effects of testosterone priming.Patients: We studied 188 prepubertal boys aged between 10 and 15 years (mean ± S.D.: 11.4&#17...

Background: Reports on obesity, high blood pressure and reduced insulin sensitivity in children with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) indicate an increased cardiovascular risk.Objective and Hypotheses: To evaluate potential mechanisms, we analysed various parameters of the carbohydrate metabolism in children and adolescents with CAH.Method: Out of 86 patients with classical CAH, n=41 (21 m, 20 f; ages: 6.9&#1...