ESPE Abstracts

Background: Postnatal linear growth is characterized by a steady decline of growth velocity in healthy individuals, with the exception of sex-steroid induced pubertal growth. Pharmacologic interventions in growth disorders are limited to systemic application of growth factors such as growth hormone, and CNP analogues in conditions with FGFR3 overactivation. Tyrosine kinase receptor inhibitors (TKI) represent a heterogenous group of drugs, mostly used for oncol...

Among the acquired causes of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in childhood, the most common reasons are benign or semimalign pituitary tumors - first and foremost craniopharyngiomas or dysgerminomas. We report on a very rare differential diagnosis in a 11-year-old, prepubertal boy with a growth arrest (1.1 cm in 2 years, height - 2.38 SDS). 2 growth hormone stimulation tests confirmed GHD (2,7 and 2,3 ng/ml after priming). There was mild central hypothyroidism (fT4 1.04 ng/dl, ...

Introduction: Laron Syndrome (LS) or primary growth hormone (GH) insensitivity is an autosomal recessive disorder due to variants in the GH-receptor (GHR) gene or to post-receptor defects. LS prevalence is estimated 1-9/1000000. We report a case of LS with a missense variant in the GHR gene not previously described.Case: female, Turkish, was referred to our clinic for short stature. Born at term, birth ...

Purpose: Clinical problems caused by impaired molecular function of inborn errors of immunity (IEI) genes are not limited to the immunological system but can also affect the endocrine system. An autosomal recessive form of severe congenital neutropenia also known as Kostmann syndrome (KS) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the mitochondrial protein HAX1. Knowing that most endocrine disorders associated with IEI are hypofunction, a close cooperation be...

Context: Quality of survival (QoS) is frequently impaired in childhood-onset craniopharyngioma (CP) patients due to sequelae caused by the hypothalamic syndrome. The debate, whether primary hypothalamic involvement (HI) has apriori prognostic impact or surgical hypothalamic lesions (HL) determine outcome, is controversial. Accordingly, we analyzed, whether CP patients at high risk for hypothalamic obesity due to primary HI of anterior and posterior hypothalamic structures bene...

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...

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. ...

Introduction: The IGSF1 gene deficiency syndrome (IDS) is an X-linked disorder involving hormonal disfunctions. We report a case of Central Hypothyroidism (CH) due to a Xq26.1q26.2 microdeletion including the IGSF1 gene.Case: this boy was referred to our clinic for thyroid dysfunction. He was born at term by caesarean section due to maternal uterine myoma. Pregnancy was normal, parents were non consangu...

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...