ESPE Abstracts

Background: Dysregulation of phosphate homeostasis in diseases such as tumor-induced osteomalacia and chronic kidney disease are often associated with impairment of musculoskeletal tissue function. While various factors such as intracellular calcium levels and dysegulated endocrine mechanisms are thought to contribute, the role of single factors such as phosphate and its main regulating hormone FGF23 are only partly revealed.Objective and hypotheses: Ino...

Background: Congenital primary hypothyreoidism occurs in about 1 of 3 600 life births and is usually detected with newborn screening. Early levothyroxine treatment is the prerequisite for normal psychomotor development of affected children. However, patients suffering from congenital central hypothyroidism are missed by the screening procedure, which may lead to delayed diagnosis and therapy. In very rare cases central hypothyroidism is caused by isolated TSH deficiency due to...

Background: Periventricular nodular heterotopia (PNH) is a brain malformation caused by dysregulation of neuronal migration during cerebral development, resulting in nodular neuronal structures in the ventricular surface. Associated ectopy of the posterior pituitary has been reported in literature and is usually associated with deficiencies of the anterior pituitary. The occasion of an isolated central diabetes insipidus due to absence of the posterior pituita...

We report on a nearly 4-year-old girl who presented to the emergency room of our paediatric clinic with high fever and poor general condition, swelling of the neck and swallowing difficulties. Laboratory chemistry showed a marked hyperthyroid metabolic state, so that initially a thyrotoxic crisis in Graves' disease was considered (TSH 0.03 mU/L (-), fT4 28.10 pmol/l (+)). Therefore, a short-term therapy with thiamazole was given. The thyroid autoantibodies were negative. ...

Background: The acid-labile subunit (ALS) is the crucial third player in the tertiary complex for its function of prolonging the half-life of the IGF1-IGFBP3 binary complexes. IGF1 and IGFBP3 are routinely determined during the diagnostic work-up for growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The aim of the study is to evaluate the relevance of serum ALS as an additional biomarker, alone or in combination with IGF1 and IGFBP3, in the diagnosis of GHD.<p class="abste...

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 most common endocrine cause of growth disorders in childhood is growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The rare monogenic forms of GHD are inherited as autosomal dominant or recessive traits and manifest as isolated deficiency or in combination with other hormone deficiencies. Here, we report on a three-year-old girl with a severe growth retardation (height 77 cm, – 5.6 S.D.S.). She is the only child of non-consanguineous parents from northern Ira...

Background and aim: Subjects with Turner Syndrome (TS) show low cortical bone mineral density (BMD), osteoporosis and risk of fractures. Previously, we demonstrated the enhanced spontaneous osteoclastogenesis in girls and young women with TS before and after pubertal induction with hormonal replacement therapy (HRT). The bone resorption observed in girls before puberty induction seems to be supported by the high FSH serum levels observed at prepubertal stage, while in young wo...

Background: Despite high survival rates in childhood craniopharyngioma, prognosis is frequently impaired due to sequelae. Radical surgery was the treatment of choice for several decades. However, even at experienced surgical facilities radical surgery can result in hypothalamic disorders such as severe obesity.Objective and hypotheses: We analyzed, whether treatment strategies for childhood craniopharyngioma patients recruited in German studies (KRANIOPH...

Background: Macroprolactinomas in children below 10 years of age are rare. Usually prolactinomas respond well to dopamine agonists so that neurosurgical resection is rarely necessary. For non-responders to dopamine agonist therapy other extended treatment options have to be considered.Clinical case: We report a 14-year-old boy who presented at the age of 11 years with headaches for 5 years and progressive bilateral vision problems. The diagnosis of a mac...