ESPE Abstracts

Background: The primary goal of GH treatment in GHD children and adolescents is to normalize height, in order to attain an adult height within the target height (TH) range.Aim: to investigate height improvement in GHD paediatric patients treated with GH in our Country.Subjects: 737 patients with isolated GHD (39.5% females) from 13 tertiary Centres for Paediatric Endocrine Care...

Background: Linear growth in patients with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) born in 1970s and 1980s is reported normal.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate whether the earlier diagnosis and the higher L-T4 starting dose lead to an improvement in growth and pubertal outcome over the last two decades.Method: Two-hundred and fifteen patients with permanent CH born in 1980s and 1990s (age at diagnosis 25.1&#177...

Background: Among children with idiopathic short stature, Italian data reported a prevalence of short stature homeobox-containing gene (SHOX) deficiency disorders (SHOX-D) near to 1/1.000-2.000 (1.1-15%) with a wide phenotypic spectrum. Current guidelines support recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy in SHOX-D children, but long-term data are still lacking. This national survey aims to evaluate long-term efficacy and safety of rhGH therapy in Italian...

Background: Adrenal insufficiency (AI) is a rare condition caused by an inadequate production of glucocorticoids. Preliminary data in adults suggest that AI could be associated with an increased susceptibility to infections; moreover, AI patients are at risk to develop a severe course of infectious diseases and to experience a life-threatening adrenal crisis. The aim of our study is to evaluate the severity and the outcome of COVID-19 in pediatric AI patients ...

Background: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) has been linked to papillary cancer in adults but not in children and adolescents. Moreover, there is no agreement on the more appropriate frequency of thyroid ultrasound (TS) in the follow-up of children with HT.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of the study was to investigate the incidence of thyroid nodules and of thyroid cancer in a large group of children and adolescents (567) with HT followed-up for a m...

Background: Iodine concentrations in Chilean schoolchildren are the highest in South America. This may be related to excessive sodium intake, which is associated with hypertension. However, iodine decreases blood pressure (BP), which would be a cardiovascular protective factor.Objective and hypotheses: The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of iodine on BP and cardiovascular risk factors, despite salt intake.Method:...

Objectives: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) is the most common thyroid abnormality in Down Syndrome (DS) children (25-60%); its etiology remains still not completely clarified. Aim of this prospective multicenter study was to evaluate prevalence and natural course of autoimmune and non-autoimmune SH in a large cohort of DS children and adolescents.Methods: The study population included 101 DS patients with SH (TSH 5-...

Diagnosis of craniopharyngiomas in childhood is often delayed due to nonspecific symptoms. In Italy all children are followed-up by paediatricians of the NHS and paediatric endocrinologists are present throughout the country. This would theoretically lead to an early diagnosis. We aimed to examine the clinical picture at diagnosis and duration of history before diagnosis in 117 patients (pts) followed-up at Endocrinology Centres belonging to the I.S.P.E.D..<p class="abstex...

Background: In Romania (latitude 48°15’N to 43°40’N), vitamin D supplementation is a common practice mostly in 0–2 year old infants. No published information is available regarding vitamin D status in Romanian children.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to evaluate the seasonal and age variation of vitamin D status in a large Romanian pediatric patient population.Method: 1 395 individuals, 0–18years, f...

Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) is a rare heterogeneous syndrome associated with severe prenatal and postnatal growth retardation.Context: There is little information on puberty onset and bone age trend in children with SRS.Study Design and partecipants: Retrospective observational study, including patients with a confirmed diagnosis of SRS divided in 2 molecular groups [ 11p15 loss of methylation, (...