ESPE Abstracts

Background: Ireland has the highest prevalence of Down syndrome (DS) in Europe, affecting ~1 in 500 live births. Patients with DS are at increased risk of developing thyroid disorders during childhood. Hyperthyroidism can be difficult to recognise and treat in this population. First-line therapy with anti-thyroid drugs (ATDs) may help achieve remission, but relapse is common following discontinuation of medication. Definitive treatment with radio ablation or surgery is often c...

Background: Neonatal thyrotoxicosis, a rare and life-threatening condition, is caused by transplacental transfer of thyroid stimulating immunoglobulins from mother to infant. While clinical features may include goitre, prominent eyes and poor weight gain, these may be absent in some cases. Early diagnosis and treatment of affected infants is critical.Objective: We report a case series of infants with neonatal thyrotoxicosis from two tertiary paediatric h...

Introduction: The identification of obese patients with increased susceptibility and risk for glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes requires an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Reference values for Body mass index (BMI) and Tri-Ponderal mass index (TMI) according to age and sex of healthy children in Spain without malnutrition or obesity have recently been published (*). TMI values remain very uniform in both boys and girls from the age of 8 to 18 years, ...

Introduction: Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a complex genetic condition associated with feeding difficulties, hypotonia, developmental delay in infancy; hyperphagia leading to extreme obesity, growth failure and behavioral problems in childhood. Coeliac disease (CD), is an autoimmune disease characterized by gluten intolerance and a variety of symptoms most commonly diarrhea or constipation and failure to thrive. In PWS the challenge is to optimize growth while avoiding obesi...

Background: Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) inhibits the in utero growth of the Müllerian structures in female fetuses. In neonates with suspected disorders of sexual development (DSDs), the presence of testicular tissues and functioning Sertoli cells can be investigated by testing for serum AMH concentration.Objective: To evaluate the performance of two new AMH assays in a hospital laboratory.Method: The technical performan...

Introduction: The human adrenal gland originates from the adrenogonadal primordium at around 4 weeks post conception (wpc) and undergoes marked developmental changes throughout the first half of pregnancy. Several key aspects of adrenal maturation are well-established, such as the formation of a large inner fetal zone (FZ) and synthesis of dehydroepiandrosterone, but many other processes contributing to adrenal gland development and function in humans are stil...

Background: Patients with 46, XY DSD present conflicts and issues related to gender identity (GI) and change to male social sex in patients registered in the female social sex is not rare. The HTP test is a projective psychological test, which assesses aspects related to sexual identification. GI in this test is defined as female (F), male (M) or ambiguous.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate GI in patients with 46, XY DSD by the HTP test and compare th...

Background: Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) results from loss of paternally imprinted genes from the 15q11–13 region and causes hypotonia with weight faltering in infancy, followed later by obesity which is classically attributed to hyperphagia.Objective and hypotheses: To determine, where possible, the age at onset of unwanted weight gain (as opposed to actual obesity) in children with PWS attending a specialist clinic.Metho...

Background: Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is produced by small growing ovarian follicles. It inhibits both FSH induced maturation of follicles as well as aromatase activity. Genetic variation of AMH signalling is associated with age at menopause and circulating oestradiol levels, i.e. AMH rs10407022 T>G (intragenic) and AMHR2 rs11170547 C>T (putative enhancer).Objective and hypotheses: This present study aims to investigate ...

Introduction: The survival rates for childhood cancer have significantly increased over the past decades but the management of treatment-related complications remains challenging. Thus, the introduction of novel drugs requires careful investigation of potential off-target side effects. The developing skeleton is severely affected by the anticancer treatment which may result in growth retardation and short stature. Venetoclax is a selective Bcl-2 inhibitor whic...