ESPE Abstracts

Congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (CHH) is a rare disorder characterized by incomplete or absent puberty caused by the lack or deficient number of hypothalamic GnRH neurons, disturbed secretion or action of GnRH, or both. The association of CHH and a defective sense of smell (anosmia or hyposmia) found in approximately half of the CHH patients is termed Kallmann syndrome (KS). CHH is clinically and genetically heterogeneous, and >25 different causal genes have been ...

Background: Childhood IGCT are rare, malignant tumours of the pituitary stalk and pineal region, highly curable (>90%) by multimodal therapies. Neuroendocrine outcomes are thus important. Deficits increase over time but, without longitudinal studies, it remains unclear whether they are primarily disease or treatment related.Objective and hypotheses: To determine, by longitudinal retrospective analysis in survivors, tumour- and treatment-related facto...

Background: Phthalates are industrial chemicals extensively used as plasticizers in a variety of commercial products. Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is one of the most frequently used phthalates. DEHP is readily metabolized to mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), which is more toxic than its parent compound. There are some animal and in vitro studies suggesting that phthalates can disrupt hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis.Objective and hy...

Background: Brain tumours constitute the second most common tumours in childhood after leukaemia. Infra-tentorial tumours are more common. Most of the supra-tentorial tumours (STT) are in the supra or para-sellar regions. Malignant tumours are rare. The survival is 50–90% with appropriate management. However, STT and/or treatment may lead to traumatic brain injury (TBI) with endocrinopathic sequel.Methods: This is a retrospective hospital based stud...

Pediatric severe obesity is a major threat to health and longevity. Around 7% of children worldwide have early onset severe obesity before the age of 7. Pediatric obesity is caused by an interplay of multiple factors: lifestyle, environmental, sociocultural, psychological, biological and genetic factors. Endocrine, monogenetic or syndromal causes are rare, but currently underdiagnosed and important to identify for the need of specific treatment. Cardiovascular risk factors and...

Objective: Urine phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are one of estrogen-mimetic EDCs. Many studies have suggested that urinary phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are closely related to central precocious puberty (CPP) and isolated premature thelarche (IPT), but there is no study between urinary PAEs and the progression of IPT. This study is to explore the influence of PAEs on the progression of IPT to CPP or early puberty (EP).Methods:</strong...

Introduction: Pediatric obesity (PO) is associated with hormonal dysfunctions contributing to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Among these risks, thyroid disfunctions (TD) are the most common. The ethio-pathogenetic mechanisms underlying TD are not well known and include an adaptive response to a higher energy intake, hyperleptinemia, peripheral resistance to thyroid hormones, increased pro-inflammatory cytokines. Pediatric prevalence ...

Introduction: Many evidences confirmed that hyperuricemia is connected with obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk, not only among adults. Uric acid (UA) interacts with other factors in the modulation of obesity and its complications, since childhood. The study aims to identify any correlations between AU plasma concentrations and the clinical/laboratory data of a group of obese Italian children living in the province of Salerno, ...

Introduction: The role of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) enzyme as a marker of insulin resistance (IR) in pediatric obesity is well known. Recent evidence, mainly in the adult population, has identified GGT/High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) ratio as a risk index for hepatic steatosis. The study has the purpose of examining the relationship between GGT, GGT/HDL ratio and the clinical/laboratory data of a group of obese Italian children living in the province of ...

Introduction: Pediatric obesity (PO) if not adequately identified and addressed, leads to significant chronic diseases in adulthood. The anthropometric methods for the evaluation of PO have limitations well described in the literature. Neck circumference (NC) is recently proposed as parameter for better identification and evaluation of PO. We verified the relationship between NC, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and some laboratory parameters of...