ESPE Abstracts

Background: Primary IGF1 deficiency can result from molecular defects in genes encoding for the GHR, IGF1, STAT5b and ALS. Heterozygous, activating mutations in the STAT3 gene have been recently described in children with severe growth failure associated with a spectrum of early-onset autoimmune disease.Case presentation: We report the molecular diagnosis in two unrelated patients with severe growth failure and IGF1 deficiency: P1, a 3.6 year ol...

Background: Bone age (BA) is commonly used in pediatrics to define skeletal maturity for medical and non-medical purposes. Normal range is represented by 2 standard deviations (SDs) above and below the mean. A BA greater than ±2 SDs from the chronological age (CA) is considered abnormal. BA in achondroplasia (ACH) has not been fully characterized; calculation is challenging given difficulties in comparing x-rays with standard radiographs if using the Greuli...

DSD-LIFE is a comprehensive clinical outcome study investigating medical, surgical, psychosocial, and ethical issues to improve treatment and care of patients with the different diagnoses included in the umbrella term disorders/differences of sex development (DSD). The multidisciplinary DSD-LIFE consortium consists of 15 experienced European scientists in the areas endocrinology, psychology, surgery, gynaecology, urology, and ethics. In 2013 the study protocol and the online d...

Background: ACH, the most common short-limbed skeletal dysplasia, is characterized by defective endochondral ossification resulting from gain-of-function mutations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene, a negative regulator of endochondral bone formation. Current treatment options are non-targeted, ineffective, or painful interventions aimed at preventing or treating complications. Infigratinib is an orally bioavailable and selective...

Background: ACH is the most common short-limbed skeletal dysplasia, affecting between 1 in 15,000 to 1 in 30,000 live births. Children and adults with ACH have disproportionate short stature, with a final height of approx. 131 cm for males and 124 cm for females. People with ACH are prone to significant co-morbidities, including obstructive sleep apnea, chronic otitis media with conductive hearing loss, spinal stenosis, and a propensity towards obesity. In som...

Background: Osteogenesis imperfecta / Ehlers–Danlos (OI/EDS) overlap syndrome is a rare and recently described disorder of connective tissue, characterized by mutation of COL1A1 (17q21.33) or COL1A2 (7q21.3) genes, involved in alpha-1 and alpha-2 chains of type 1 collagen synthesis. Patients with OI/EDS overlap syndrome could show a phenotype characterized by features of both osteogenesis imperfecta (bone fragility, long bone fractures, blue sclerae, sho...

Introduction: Thyroid hormone resistance (THR) is a rare disease (≈ 1/50000) mainly due to thyroid hormone receptor beta gene (THRB) mutations, generally identified in late childhood and adulthood. We report 2 atypical cases of neonatal diagnosis of THR.Case 1: The newborn presented with neonatal respiratory distress due to a voluminous compressive goiter, requiring invasive ventilation. Thyroid function test...

Background: Genetic causes of central precocious puberty (CPP) has been increasingly recognized, extending our knowledge of the triggering factors of human pubertal timing. Distinct etiologies remain to be elucidated in sporadic and familial cases. Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) is a chromatin-associated protein that can activate or repress gene transcription, playing a role in neuronal maturation. It is encoded by MECP2 gene located at chromoso...

Introduction: Kisspeptin stimulates the gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons in hypothalamus initiating puberty. However, it is not known whether GnRH inhibits kisspeptin secretion by negative feedback and whether there are any associations between circulating levels of kisspeptin and other hormones, like ghrelin, important for the onset of puberty.Methods: Thirteen girls with suspected central precocious pubert...

Background: Papillary thyroid cancer has been described in three patients with Turner syndrome (TS) who received growth hormone therapy (Cabanas P, 2005; Bautembach-Minkowska J, 2018). We are presenting a case of papillary thyroid cancer in a girl with a late-diagnosed Turner syndrome who has not received any hormonal therapy up to 17 years.Clinical case: A girl was diagnosed with TS syndrome (karyotype 45XO/46X i(X)q) a...