ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Excessive androgen secretion from gonads, adrenal gland and tumors arising from germ cells lead to gonadotropin independent precocious puberty in male and virilization in females. Rapid progression of symptoms with peripheral precocity need urgent evaluation to identify the underlying etiology. We report three cases of malignancy with excess androgen secretion within a year in a tertiary care children hospital in Sri Lanka....

Introduction: Bartter syndrome (BS) is a rare genetic renal tubular disorder characterized by hypokalemia, salt-wasting and metabolic alkalosis. Polyuria, polydipsia, hypokalemia and salt loss are responsible for the growth retardation seen in BS. Persistent growth failure despite optimizing medical therapy may be due to growth hormone (GH) deficiency.Case diagnosis and treatment: A 9-year-old girl diagnosed with Bartter...

Introduction: Differentiation of the external genitalia depends on serum androgen concentrations in the foetal life. The classic form of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) is the most frequent cause of female genital ambiguity. It is an autosomal recessive disorder due to CYP21A2 mutations that are classified in groups based on their in vitro residual enzymatic activity. The phenotype usually is predicted by the less severe mutatio...

Background: Evaluation of the external genitalia is very important in the routine neonatal examination, since abnormalities of the genitalia give clues to underlying endocrine disorders or serious structural malformations. This is the first report regarding the stretched penile length (SPL) of newborns from Sri Lanka.Objective and hypotheses: The objectives of the study were to document the SPL of healthy term neonates born following an uncomplicated del...

GLI2 is a downstream transcription factor in Sonic Hedgehog signaling, acting early in ventral forebrain and pituitary development. Heterozygous GLI2 mutations have been reported in patients with isolated or combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD).Objective: Study of genetic etiology of the hypopituitarism and identification of the genetic alteration in GLI2 gene.Methodology: Molecular study: Search for varia...

Objectives: The aims of this study were: (1) to evaluate the perception of children with GH Deficiency (GHD) and their parents, regarding their current and future predicted height, as well as the modulating factors; (2) to investigate the relation between perceptions of height and psychosocial functioning in children with GHD.Methods: The study group consists of 322 children/adolescents (219 boys) diagnosed with (isolated) GHD, treated with GH. The mean ...

Objectives: To describe the Health Related Quality of life (HrQoL) of children/adolescents with GH Deficiency (GHD) and to examine the effects of sociodemographic (i.e., patients’ age, sex and family socioeconomic status) and clinical characteristics (i.e. degree of short stature and duration of treatment) on HrQoL from patients’ and their parents’ perspectives. Associations between QoLISSY questionnaire and demographics were evaluated using Mann-Whitney or Krus...

Background: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is the most serious acute complication of type 1 Diabetes mellitus (T1DM). It is important to know the factors associated with the development of DKA and elaborate preventive strategies to reduce their prevalence.Objective and hypotheses: To identify DKA predictive risk factors in the initial presentation of T1DM in children and adolescents.Method: We conducted a retrospective study, by analy...

Background: Measuring testicular volume (TV) by orchidometer is a standard method of pubertal staging in boys. A paucity of evidence exists as to its inter and intra-user reliability and the impact of clinicians’ gender, training and experience on the accuracy of measurements.Objective and hypotheses: We engineered prosthetic models of different size testes to investigate the reliability of TV estimation.Method: The study was ...

Background: Approximately 15 million children are born preterm worldwide yearly.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate spontaneous growth during the first 8 years of life.Hypotheses: Preterm born children have spontaneous recovery of weight and height in the first 8 years of life.Method: Measurements at birth, 6, 12 and 24 months of corrected age and at recall [6.4±0.5 years (5.2–8.0)]. Weight, lengt...