ESPE Abstracts

Background: Using ultrasound to examine the glandular breast tissue is a promising method for staging pubertal breast development. However, breast ultrasound for this purpose has not been explored in a large sample of healthy girls in different developmental stages, and normative data have been unavailable.Objective: To present novel pubertal references for breast ultrasound stages, Tanner breast (B) and pubic hair (PH) ...

Background: The fundamental challenge of developing a long-acting growth hormone (LAGH) is to create a more convenient growth hormone (GH) dosing profile while retaining the excellent safety, efficacy, and tolerability of daily GH. With GH receptors on virtually all cells, replacement therapy should achieve the same tissue distribution and effects of daily (and endogenous) GH while maintaining levels of GH and resulting IGF1 within the physiologic range....

Objective: To evaluate the endocrine function among Egyptian adolescent thalassemic patients.Patients and methods: 54 patients and 28 age-matched normal controls was included. Anthropometric measurements, clinical pubertal assessment were done for all patients. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was done to all patients and controls with measuring serum insulin level at 0.120 minutes. Insulin sensitivity and release index were calculated. 32 patients had...

Background and aim: Hypothyroidism could be accountable for cardiovascular diseases; hence, necessity of novel biomarkers being capable to predict patient’s status is indispensable. The aim of this study was to appraise alteration of plasma visfatin levels (as a newly discovered proteins) and its association with lipid profiles of hypothyroid patients.Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study, 30 children bein...

Background: Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), due to loss of paternal gene expression on chromosome 15q11.2-13, is characterized by hypotonia, hypothalamic-pituitary dysregulation, abnormal respiratory drive, and hyperphagia. GH, often started in infancy, improves tone, body composition, and height. Concerns about sudden death in children with PWS started on GH, hypothesized secondary to worsening obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) from adenotonsillar hypertrophy, resulted in guidelines...

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder worldwide. Evidence suggests dysfunction of the fronto-subcortical pathways and the dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems, as well as dysregulation of the stress system, i.e., the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS).Objective and hypotheses: The aim of the study was to examine i) the diurn...

Background: The short synacthen test (SST) is a popular diagnostic investigation for adrenal insufficiency (AI). Cannulation and blood sampling are required making it invasive, time-consuming and resource-intensive. Salivary cortisol is a well-established alternative to serum sampling.Objective and Hypotheses: To develop a non-invasive alternative to the 1 μg SST, using a novel formulation of Synacthen (with a nasal drug enhancer, chitosan) given na...

Background: Steroid therapy has been used as a therapeutic strategy in the management of Paediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS) with good effect. However, as always, exogenous steroid administration carries with it a risk of iatrogenic adrenal insufficiency.Aim: We characterise steroid therapy use in PIMS-TS and consider implications for hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal...

Introduction: Obesity is the direct cause of a number of immediate problems during childhood. Recently, fat mass was described as a significant negative predictor of serum iron. Hepcidin is a hormone stimulated by an increase in plasma iron levels and iron deposits in tissues, and decreases iron release from macrophages and duodenal enterocytes into the plasma. This protein prevents excessive iron absorption and iron accumulation in tissues. Ferritin is the most commonly deplo...

Background: Obesity in childhood is defined by age- and sex-specific BMI cut-off values. However, BMI does not disclose the distribution of fat mass. Increased abdominal adipose tissue is associated with a higher risk of cardio-metabolic disease in adulthood. Thus, precise measurements of abdominal adipose tissue in children may enable early prevention of disease.Objective and hypotheses: To validate measurements of abdominal adipose tissue by anthropome...