ESPE Abstracts

DICER1, a gene located on chromosome 14q32.13, encodes a protein ribonuclease (RNase) IIIb that plays a central regulatory role in miRNA processing. DICER1 syndrome has an autosomal dominant inheritance and predisposes affected individuals to a wide variety of tumors, both benign and malignant. We describe the case of a 6-year-old girl, carrier of a DICER1 germline mutation, and affected by a differentiated thyroid carcinoma. At the age of 6 a first thyroid ultrasound revealed...

Although craniopharyngiomas are low-grade tumours, long-term survivors frequently suffer from severe morbidity due to hypothalamic lesions, such as hypothalamic obesity, that is largely resistant to lifestyle modification and pharmacotherapy. We investigated the efficacy of bariatric surgery in two patients with craniopharyngioma-related hypothalamic obesity during 18 months of follow-up. Patient n1, diagnosed with craniopharyngioma and treated with complete surgical excision ...

A 5-years-old boy was admitted because of polydipsia and polyuria. His family history was unremarkable. After water deprivation test (10h), laboratory test showed high levels of serum sodium (150.1 mmol/L), low urine osmolarity (88 mOsm/kg) and high serum osmolarity (301 mOsm/kg) consistent with the diagnosis of central diabetes insipidus (CDI). He started therapy with oral desmopressin with clinical improvement. Brain MRI revealed pituitary stalk thickening (3 mm), no hyperin...

Background: Sitosterolemia is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by intestinal hyperabsorption and decreased biliary excretion of dietary plant sterol, due to mutations in adenosine-triphosphate (ATP)-binding-cassette (ABC) transporter family (ABCG8 and ABCG5).Case report: A 7.86 years old boy was referred to the Childhood Lipid Clinic due to incidental finding of hypercholesterolemia: total cholesterol 524 mg/dl (13.54 mmol/l), LDL-choles...

Background: With improvements in assays and an increasing need for non-invasive out-patient based investigations, there is a renewed interest in the use of urinary gonadotrophins (uGn) for assessing pubertal progress.Objective and hypotheses: This study aims to establish the correlation between serum and urinary LH and FSH in patients with pubertal concerns.Method: 36 boys and girls aged 14.9 years (range 7.8–17.3) and 9.5 yea...

Background: Maternal diabetes is a pathologic state that increases the incidence of complications in both the mother and the foetus. Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) may exhibit reproductive abnormalities, including PCOS and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Diabetes during pregnancy is an endocrine disruptor and studies performed in animal models have shown abnormalities in gonadal function in the offspring, but it is unknown whether pre-gestational (PGDM) and gestational di...

Background: Growth is a complex process influenced by several genetic factors both pre and postnatal, in which 80% of the height variation is explained by genetic factors. Nevertheless, the standard medical evaluation of short stature (SS) relies upon physical examination and laboratory parameters and identifies a pathological cause of SS in 1–40% of individuals. Recent advances in genetic diagnosis are revolutionizing the clinician’s ability to obtain a molecular di...

Background: In total of 48,XXYY Syndrome occurs in 1:20.000–1:50.000 male births. It used to be considered as a variant of Klinefelter syndrome, but now it is considered as a distinct clinical and genetic entity with increased risks for congenital malformations, additional medical problems and more complex psychological and neurodevelopmental involvement. 48,XXYY Syndrome results from the fertilization of a normal female oocyte (Xm), with an aneuploid sperm (XpYpYp) produ...

Introduction: The diagnosis and treatment of patients with rare diseases is often difficult as most clinicians do not encounter them. Therefore, centralization and collaboration between centers of expertise is necessary. European Reference Networks (ERN’s) such as RareEndoERN provide a platform for this, with one of its main thematic groups having a specific focus on rare growth and obesity disorders. Genetic obesity encompasses a heterogeneous group of c...

Introduction: Previous studies showed that non-obese children and adults with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) have a low frequency of metabolic syndrome (MetS), while obese ones have a frequency similar to that of non-PWS obese. It is known that individuals born small for gestational age (SGA) have a greater predisposition to the development of MetS. Recent neonatal percentiles of subjects with PWS (Salvatoni et al, Am J Med Genet Part A, 2019) documented...