ESPE Abstracts

Background: Haploinsufficiency of short stature homeobox containing gene (SHOX) is one of the main monogenic causes of short stature. The phenotype of SHOX deficiency (SHOX-D) is often mild, making difficult to identify which short-statured children should be screened.Objective and hypotheses: To estimate the prevalence of SHOX-D in Italian short-statured children and to analyse their phenotype and the sensitivity of various scores and anthropometric mea...

Background: There is an emerging evidence that the ovary may be an important site where genes such as LIN28b, whose polymorphisms has been strongly associated to age at menarche, could modulate the timing of puberty. Recent data suggest that the endocannabinoid system plays a role in folliculogenesis and ovulation, through cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) expressed in the ovary. On the other hand childhood obesity is associated with increased likelihood of early menarche,...

Background: Lipid assessment is emerging as a useful and easy detectable tool to define the overall cardiovascular risk in children and adolescents. Nevertheless, no all dyslipidemic patients suffer the same cardiometabolic consequences.Objective and hypotheses: To compare anthropometric, biochemical and blood pressure variables among dyslipidemic children and adolescents according to the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS).Metho...

Since the first description of pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP), a remarkable clinical variability, which translates in several PHP subtypes, was observed. In 2016 a new classification of this group of diseases have been published by the European Network on PHP and related disorders, proposing “inactivating PTH/PTHrP signaling disorder” (iPPSD) as a new term that encompasses all the clinical entities, stressing the common mechanism responsible for all diseases. iPPSDs ...

Hypothyroid patients post-thyroidectomy require 1.6-1.8 mg/kg/die of Levothyroxine (L-T4). A persistent TSH level above the upper limit despite a daily dose >1.9 mg/kg/die is defined as “refractory” hypothyroidism in adults. Malabsorption and “pseudo-malabsorption” need to be investigated in case of therapeutic failure. L-T4 absorption test (LT4AT) is useful in distinguishing these two conditions but it has only been described in adult age. We ...

Introduction: The co-occurrence of Turner Syndrome (TS) and Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser Syndrome (MRKHS) has been rarely described in literature. The resulting clinical picture includes congenital aplasia of the uterus and of the upper two-thirds of the vagina and ovarian dysgenesis.Case Report: We hereby report the case of a 14-year-old girl referred to our endocrine outpatient clinic for pubertal delay. Her previous medical history ...

Background: Pubertal induction in girls with hypogonadism through estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) aims at the development of secondary sexual characteristics, cognitive functions, uterine growth and maturation, bone mass accrual and linear growth. To date, the best induction regimen, capable of assuring both physiological gradual progression through Tanner stages and effective uterine development, is still to be established.Patients a...

Introduction: Obese children with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) but with 1-hour post-load plasma glucose (1hPG) ≥ 132.5 mg/dl are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiometabolic complications. In addition, new markers of systemic inflammation derived from blood cell count could be used as indicators of insulin resistance, thus predicting worse metabolic profile.Objective: The aim of our study w...

Background: COVID-19 restriction measurements have determined profound alterations in glucose and insulin metabolism in children with overweight and obesity. However, to date few data have explored the effects of the relaxation of restrictions in the pediatric population. Thus, we compared anthropometric and OGTT data in children with overweight and obesity during the two years after (2021-2023) compared to the two years during (2020-2021) and before (2018-201...

Introduction: PMM2-CDG is the most common congenital disorder of glycosylation (CDG). Since glycoproteins are involved in every endocrine axis, PMM2-CDG patients have a high risk of developing endocrinopathies.Case report: We describe two 12 years-old female PMM2-CDG patients with severe short stature and no clinical sign of puberty. One patient showed low serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and IGF bind...