ESPE Abstracts

Background: Mutations in the gene encoding LHX4, a homeodomain-containing factor with two LIM domains, are responsible for dominant hypopituitarisms with incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity. To date, only 14 unambiguous LHX4 mutations have been reported. Among those cases, 12 had an absent or ectopic posterior pituitary (EPP) and/or an abnormal sella turcica.Objective and hypotheses: To i) assess the contribution of LHX4 in combined pituitary...

Background: “Transient” Neonatal Diabetes Mellitus (TNDM) is a rare genetic beta cells dysfunction leading to hyperglycaemia that resolves in early childhood. About 80% of patients relapse during adolescence or adulthood. Glucose homeostasis had not been investigated in adulthood.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity in adults affected with TNDM or in their 1st degree mutated relatives.</p...

Background: Sulfonylurea therapy (SU) allows a better metabolic control than insulin in patients with neonatal diabetes secondary to mutation in potassium channel subunits (ND-K). Most of these patients have neurological and neuromotor developmental impairments whose changes under SU has not been studied in a systematic and prospective way in a large cohort.Objective and Hypotheses: To demonstrate the beneficial effect of SU on neuropsychological functio...

The Ovotesticular Disorder of Sexual Development (OT DSD) is a rare condition characterized by histologic demonstration of both ovarian and testicular tissue in the same individual. Descriptions in literature usually have small samples and do not include patient evolution data. The aim of this study is to describe clinical, biochemical and histological findings, as well as long-term outcomes (including onset and progression of puberty) in patients with OT DSD, accompanied betw...

Introduction: Noonan syndrome (NS) is a relative frequent genetic disorder, mainly characterized by dysmorphic face features, congenital heart defects and short stature. Though delayed pubertal development has been described in both sexes, the physiopathological root remains unclear. This study aims at characterizing puberty development in Noonan syndrome.Materials and Methods: The study population included 111 individuals with a molecul...

Introduction: Precocious pubarche (PP) is characterized by the early development of pubic hair and clitoral enlargement in girls. While commonly attributed to adrenal-related causes, such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia or adrenal tumors, ovarian sources are infrequent etiologies. In this report, we present a clinical case of a young girl with PP due to a rare source.Case Report: A 1.7-year-old girl presented with the ...

Objective: Craniopharyngioma is a benign brain tumour with frequent local recurrence after treatment. Growth hormone replacement therapy (GHRT) is prescribed in children with growth hormone deficiency due to childhood-onset craniopharyngioma. The objective was to evaluate whether shorter time delay of GHRT initiation after childhood-onset craniopharyngioma completion therapy increased the risk of recurrence.Design: Our r...

Purpose: Isolated growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) is a rare condition mainly caused by mutations in GH1. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of GHRHR mutations to IGHD in a very large cohort of patients.Methods: All GHRHR coding exons and flanking intronic regions were sequenced in 312 unrelated patients with non-syndromic IGHD. Functional consequences of all newly identified missense variants were assessed <e...

Background: GLI2 is a zinc-finger transcription factor of the SHH signaling pathway, expressed during ventral forebrain and pituitary development. GLI2 mutations account for microforms of dominant holoprosencephaly. So far, only 15 unambiguous mutations were found in hypopituitarism –essentially combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD)– frequently associated with holoprosencephaly-like malformations and/or polydactyly.Objective and...

Background: Bi-allelic GHR mutations are classically responsible for Laron syndrome, a severe growth hormone (GH) resistance syndrome. A few GHR missense mutations have also been implicated in mild GH resistance or idiopathic short stature. IGFALS mutations are responsible for recessive or semi-dominant short stature with normal GH provocative test contrasting with extremely low IGF-I levels.Objective and hypotheses: To assess the contribution of GHR and...