ESPE Abstracts

Background: Children born small for gestational age (SGA) are at risk for metabolic syndrome (MetS) as adults and show a higher prevalence of MetS components.Objective and hypotheses: To define the association between low birth weight and the presence of MetS in a cohort of obese Italian children and adolescents.Method: The presence of MetS was studied in a cohort of obese (BMI >90th centile) children and adolescents consisting...

Introduction: Previous reports support the hypothesis of an age dependent derangement of the hypothalamus–pituitary axis occurring in PWS subjects. In this context, transition years represent an important phase of growth process when somatic development reaches its completion. In the general population, GH deficiency (GHD) during the transition phase is associated with deterioration of body composition, metabolic alterations and reduced bone mineral density. PWS subjects ...

Background: Hypoparathyroidism (HP) is the most common first endocrinopathy in patients with autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy syndrome (APECED or APS1), an autosomal recessive condition caused by mutations in the AIRE gene. Treatment of HP has not changed over the decades and parathyroid hormone is used only rarely.Aim: To describe clinical characteristics and course of HP in a cohort of patients with APECED and eva...

Introduction: Pseudo-precocious puberty may be triggered by either endogenous or exogenous sex steroids. Accidental ingestion of contraceptives, anabolic steroids or life style products containing sex steroids as well as transdermal transmission of topical sex steroids may cause early onset of secondary sexual development.Objective: To report the clinical course of incidental contamination with topical sex steroids in ch...

Background: Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is the most common cause of the persistent hypoglycemia in children. Mutations in KCNJ11 and ABCC8 genes coding potassium channel subunits are responsible for a significant proportion of CHI patients. The type of mutation correlates with the type of B-cell hyperplasia (focal or diffuse), and determinates further diagnostics, treatment and prognosis of disorder.Aims and objectives: The aim of ...

Introduction: Central precocious puberty (CPP) is due to premature activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Mutations in the imprinted gene MKRN3 are the most common monogenic form of CPP. Recently, attention was directed to DLK1, another imprinted gene. Defects in this gene resulted to be a rare cause of CPP in girls and adult women with precocious menarche, obesity and metabolic derangement. We aimed to investigate a cohort of female and male p...

Introduction: Beta thalassemia is a common genetic disorder in Mediterranean countries. Congenital hypothyroidism is also a condition resulting with deficiency of thyroid hormone in newborn infants. Autoimmune thyroid dysfunction in childhood patients with thalassemia major is uncommon and poorly described. We report a case of a child with two independent diseases - clinical hypothyroidism diagnosed in early childhood, and beta thalassemia major who developed ...

Background: McCune–Albright syndrome (MAS) is defined by skin, bone and glands disorders, due to activating mutations in the GNAS1. Clinical presentation is heterogeneous. Reports about GH excess in MAS patients are scarce.Case report: We present the case of an 8-year-old male, previously diagnosed with mono-ostotic fibrous dysplasia of the skull, referred due to signs of pubertal development since the age of 6. The patient presented only 1...

Background: Chronic diseases are the main causes of bone mass reduction in childhood and adolescence. Different aspects related to the process of bone acquisition and maintenance may be affected. Studies had point out the presence of bone mass reduction in children and adolescents with HIV infection with association to antiretroviral use, chronological age (CA), weight and serum CD4 T-cell counts. However, others do not.Objective: To evaluate bone minera...

Background: Central precocious puberty (CPP) is a common condition in girls and has been associated with deterioration of final height (FH). Height prognosis (HP) is critical for the decision of treatment in CPP. There are several methods for predicting FH in CPP but none is completely reliable. Most methods consider bone age (BA), which is very imprecise, but there is no consensus on which method is the best to estimate FH.Objective: To compare the accu...