ESPE Abstracts

Background: There are limited data in paediatric population on the association between vitamin D deficiency/treatment and glucose/insulin metabolism.Objective and hypotheses: This study aimed to investigate the effect of vitamin D therapy on glucose homeostasis, insulin resistance and bone turnover, in children with vitamin D deficiency.Method: 22 children aged 3 months to 10 years (nine male) who were diagnosed with vitamin D defi...

Background: Otological problems in Turner syndrome (TS) are notoriously common and troublesome, often requiring intervention with adeno-tonsillectomy, insertion of ventilation tubes and occasionally resulting in serious disease such as cholesteatoma.Survey of otological problems in the West of Scotland: A case note review of 174 girls attending the Turner clinic in Glasgow, Scotland from 1989–2015 found that of 155 patients in whom data were availab...

Background: P450 oxidoreductase deficiency (PORD) is characterised by glucocorticoid and sex steroid deficiency and skeletal malformations, resembling Antley–Bixler syndrome (ABS, MIM 124015), a skeletal malformaton phenotype also present in patients with fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 mutations (FGFR2, MIM 176943). While genetic testing confirms both conditions, establishing the exact diagnosis on clinical grounds can be challenging.Objective ...

Background: Girls with Turner syndrome (TS) are inappropriately short for their parents’ heights; measured parental height is therefore useful in diagnosis.Objective and hypotheses: To examine the sensitivity of measured parental height in the diagnosis of TS; and to audit the frequency of parental height measurement in our clinic.Method: Case note review of all girls with TS attending our dedicated Turner clinic between 1989&...

Background: The contribution of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and parental height (PH) to childhood short stature is difficult to determine in countries, including the UK, where birth length (BL) is not routinely measured, while accurate PH may become unavailable due to separation/divorce. A previous study (2008–2009) examined the feasibility of BL and PH measurement in the lightest 9% of babies born in a single maternity unit. Uptake was disappointing, with part...

Introduction: Paediatric growth hormone deficiency (pGHD) is a rare disorder characterised by inadequate secretion of growth hormone (GH). Daily injections of somatropin, a recombinant human GH, is the standard of care. Once-weekly GH treatments have been recently developed, but no direct comparisons have been published. This study examined the clinical efficacy of the available once-weekly treatments vs. daily treatment for pGHD via a systematic literature re...

Introduction: Recent studies point to the existence of androgen-responsive non-coding (nc) RNAs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) RNA.Aim: To quantify the androgen-responsive gene expression of SNORD5 and RNY5 and investigate their relationship to the testosterone (T) rise following hCG stimulation in boys with no genetic evidence of androgen insensitivity.Methods: 19 bo...

Background: Insulin Tolerance tests (ITT) have long been considered the gold standard for dynamic function testing of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Sub-optimal cortisol responses during an ITT in children may be found in children during ITT without a previous clinical suspicion of Adrenal insufficiency (AI). It is not clear what the clinical significance of this is and whether all of these children require formal synacthen testing.<p class=...

Background: Daily r-hGH injection has been safely and effectively used in paediatric patients with GHD for more than 30 years. However, little information is available describing the burden and life impacts experienced by paediatric patients related to daily r-hGH injections.Objective: To identify the burden and impacts of a daily r-hGH injection regimen on the lives of paediatric GHD patients.Methods: A retrospective meta-analysis...

Introduction: Among Disorders of Sex Development (DSDs), XY DSD, represents the most challenging group in terms of identifying a diagnosis.Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of biochemical and molecular genetic tests in a cohort of boys with XY DSD and to collate the phenotypes of patients with results of laboratory investigations and presence of associated abnormalities.Methods: New and existing cases...