ESPE Abstracts

Background: Central precocious puberty (CPP) is often familial but its genetic cause is largely unknown. Very recently, the makorin RING finger protein 3 (MKRN3) gene, located on chromosome 15 in the Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS)-associated region (15q11-q13), has been found mutated for the first time in five families with familial precocious puberty, with a peculiar kind of transmission. In fact, it is an imprinted gene which is expressed only if transmitted from the father. Th...

Background: Silver Russell Syndrome (SRS) is characterized by pre- and postnatal growth failure, relative macrocephaly at birth, prominent forehead, feeding difficulties and body asymmetry. The diagnosis is clinical, the genetic mechanisms involved are different, in 50% of cases loss of methylation (LOM) at the paternal H19/IGF2:IG-DMR (chr11p15.5), in 10% of cases maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 7 (UPD(7)mat), cases of maternal uniparental ...

Background: Children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) have an increased risk of developing optic pathway gliomas (OPGs) during childhood. Although these tumors usually have a benign course, some cases result in significant clinical symptoms, including endocrinological disorders.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of this study is to evaluate the endocrinological complications of OPGs involving the chiasm in children with NF1.Metho...

Background: Thyroid dysfunction is a well-known endocrine complication after cervical irradiation for Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL). The most common are primary hypothyroidism (20–30%), central hypothyroidism, transient thyroiditis and thyroid cancer. Graves’ disease (GD) is less frequent (5%).Objective and hypotheses: We describe a boy, already diagnosed with thyroiditis, who developed GD during follow-up for severe hypothyroidism following rad...

Background: epidemiological studies reported an increased incidence of central precocious puberty (CPP) during the last year compared to previous year. Confinement measures and consequent daily routine modifications applied to contain coronavirus infectious disease-19 (COVID-19) contagion have been proposed as a cause of this phenomenon. Our study aims in investigating changes in CPP rates in a tertiary paediatric endocrinology outpatient clinic of South Italy...

Introduction: X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is a rare hereditary condition caused by mutation in the gene encoding the phosphate-regulating endopeptidase homolog, X-linked (PHEX). It is characterized by altered phosphate homeostasis with persistent hypophosphatemia and hyperphosphaturia resulting in deficient skeletal mineralization, rickets, bone deformity, growth failure, dental problems, joint pain and impairment.Case Prese...

Hypercalcemia and nephrocalcinosis (NC) are rare findings associated with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), whose pathogenetic mechanisms are still unclear. In this study we aimed to investigate the prevalence of NC in a cohort of Italian children affected with classical form of CAH, and to correlate its association with metabolic control of the disease.Subjects and Methods: This is a multicenter one year-perspective study involving ...

Achondroplasia is the most common skeletal dysplasia caused by a gain of function of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3(FGFR3) that impairs endochondral ossification, exiting in short stature and altered bone microarchitecture. Although fractures and reduced bone mineralization are not comorbidities frequently reported, specific normative DXA data are lacking. Aim of the study was to assess bone density parameters in an Achondroplasia cohort. Fifty-seven patients (Female-...

Background: Congenital hypopituitarism (CH) genetics is highly heterogeneous. The massive use of NGS identified at least 21 desease causing genes. Not fully understood inheritance mechanism, incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity explain the complexity of phenotype-genotype correlations. To further complicate the scenario, the co-occurence of more than one desease-causing genes variants can geopardize the phenotype. Herein, we report the heterogeneous...

Background: Hypergonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) is an hallmark of Turner Syndrome (TS) and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is often required for pubertal induction; this retrospective study highlights the pituitary-gonadal axis during infancy (<5 years), childhood (5–10.9 years) and adolescence (> 11 years) in a cohort of TS patients enrolled between February 1999 to March 2023. Our aim is to underline the diagnostic role of Gonadotropins as a ma...