ESPE Abstracts

Background: Ellis van Creveld syndrome (EVC) (chondroectodermal dysplasia) is a rare, multisystem disorder. It probably affects only around 1 in every 150,000 individuals. It is characterized by a long, narrow trunk and shortened arms and legs; extra fingers (postaxial polydactyly), and abnormalities of the oral region and teeth. In infants, non-bony manifestations, particularly congenital heart defects, may be health or life-threatening.Case presentatio...

Background: Underlying causes of obesity are thought to be rare even in specialized paediatric endocrinology clinics. However, evidence is limited. The Endocrine Society (ES) guideline for paediatric obesity makes the following diagnostic recommendations: endocrine evaluation in presence of reduced growth velocity, evaluation of cerebral obesity in presence of CNS injury, re-evaluation of drug choice in patients using antipsychotics. Genetic testing is recomme...

Background: Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is caused by absence of expression of imprinted genes on the paternal chromosome 15 (15q11.2–q13) due to a paternal deletion, maternal uniparental disomy 15 and rarely an imprinting defect. The clinical signs of PWS are hypotonia, muscle weakness, excessive eating, morbid obesity, delayed global development, hypogonadism, and short stature. Marfan syndrome is caused by mutations in the FBN1 gene, located on chromosome ...

Background: The syndrome consisting of primary hypothyroidism, precocious puberty, and massive ovarian cysts was termed Van Wyk and Grumbach syndrome (VWGS) in 1960. Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis is the more common cause of hypothyroidism in children. In patients with severe longstanding hypothyroidism, the sella turcica may be enlarged due to thyrotrope hyperplasia. Puberty tends to be delayed in hypothyroid children in proportion to the retardation in the bone age, althoug...

Background: Biallelic loss of function (LoF) mutations in the leptin receptor gene (LEPR) cause a striking phenotype of early-onset severe obesity and hyperphagia. Additionally, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, growth hormone deficiency, and/or hypothyroidism are often present. Currently, 19 European patients (all aged <30 years) are described in literature. As clinical trials investigating MC4R-agonist treatment are performed throughout Europe, ide...

Background: In boys with suspected delayed puberty, serum testosterone is used for the evaluation of gonadal function. It is known that early in puberty testosterone levels show a sleep wake rhythm, with nocturnal levels increasing ahead of daytime levels. To evaluate the onset of puberty, the use of salivary testosterone would be an appealing alternative to serum analysis as it is non-invasive and allows multiple nocturnal sampling. Moreover, it is thought that salivary testo...

Background: Inhalation corticosteroids (ICS) as treatment for asthma can interfere with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and could lead to hypocortisolism. The frequency of this systemic side effect and the correlation to ICS usage is still unclear. Given that the cortisol excretion is pulsatile and determined by acute stress and circadian rhythms, the usefulness of tests based on momentary measures, such as saliva or serum are therefore limited. Cortisol levels measure...

Leptin receptor deficiency is a rare genetic disorder that affects the body’s ability to regulate appetite and weight. For patients and their families, the disorder seriously disrupts daily life, however, little is published about this impact. We here report the experiences of a 10.5-year-old girl with leptin receptor deficiency and her family. The diagnosis of this rare genetic obesity had a deep impact on the life of the child and her family. It led to a better underst...

Context: Supra-physiological exogenous corticosteroids used during the last months of pregnancy may lead to temporary neonatal adrenal suppression. Little is known about the outcome of neonates from mothers who used corticosteroids during pregnancy.Objective: The evaluation of clinical symptoms and biochemical findings of adrenal suppression in neonates from mothers using corticosteroids during pregnancy.<p class="ab...

Background: Early-onset obesity is associated with genetic obesity disorders. According to the Endocrine Society guideline for paediatric obesity, genetic screening is indicated in selected cases with age of onset (AoO) of obesity <5 years. However, this cut-off value lacks evidence. Identifying genetic obesity is vital as treatment for leptin-melanocortin pathway disorders becomes available. We aimed to determine whether AoO of obesity is predictive for g...