ESPE Abstracts

Background: Turners Syndrome (TS) is associated with osteoporosis in later life. ‘BoneXpert’ has enabled the automated assessment of bone age (BA) and Bone Health Index (BHI). Strong correlations between BoneXpert BHI and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and peripheral quantitative computed CT measurements are reported. BoneXpert produces a standard deviation score for BHI (BHI-SD) relative to a healthy cohort of children according to BA.Object...

Background: Vitamin D has a key physiological role in many metabolic process and neuromuscular activities. The peak bone mass accrual occurred during adolescence, where about 51% of bone mass is gained during puberty and about 37% of the bone mineral density (BMD) of adults is reached. Vitamin D deficiency has long-term negative implications including increased risk of osteomalacia and osteoporosis. Severe hypovitaminosis D appears to be most common in the Mid...

Background: Crohn’s disease is a relapsing systemic inflammatory disorder with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) due to up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines including TNFα. More than 80% of newly diagnosed children present with growth failure Paediatric gastroenterology units in the UK submit data to the UK IBD database which can be accessed when required. One aim of current treatment protocols is to promote growth. Studies on the use of anti-TNFα antibodi...

Background: Disruption of homeostatic functioning of the hypothalamic centres results in hyperphagia, autonomic imbalance, reduction of energy expenditure, and hyperinsulinemia. A syndrome of rapid, unrelenting weight gain is often observed in patients with structural lesions of the hypothalamus. Hypothalamic obesity syndrome (HOS) is often refractory to standard dietary and lifestyle interventions. It has been reported that metformin induces anorectic effects via an increase ...

Background: There is evidence that baseline and peak cortisol response to the low dose short Synacthen test (LDSST) varies with pubertal status and gender in children with asthma on inhaled corticosteroids. There are no published data reporting effects of puberty on cortisol response to the insulin tolerance test (ITT) in childhood and adolescence.Objective and hypotheses: To determine whether pubertal status, age or gender influence basal and peak corti...

Introduction: Congenital Hyperinsulism (CHI) is a common cause of recurrent and persistent hypoglycemia in the neonatal period. Diazoxide is the first line medication used for the management of CHI. We report the clinical profile and the management outcome of a large cohort of patients with diazoxide responsive CHI.Methodology: A retrospective data collection including antenatal, perinatal and postnatal clinical parameters, laboratory di...

Introduction: Long-acting growth hormone (LaGH) therapy has emerged as a newer treatment option for children with growth hormone deficiency, offering a convenient way of administering growth hormone (GH) injections on a weekly basis. Trials have shown that LaGH formulations are effective in increasing height velocity, improving bone mineral density, and reducing body fat mass in children with Growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The once weekly injections also hav...

Background: Short stature is the commonest problem encountered in endocrine clinics. Accuracy in opportunistic measurements is helpful in guiding subsequent management regarding medication doses including growth hormone treatment. Our study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors affecting inaccurate height measurements in different non-Endo clinic visits in our tertiary institute.Methods: A retrospective cohort study...

Background: Mounting evidence points to an association between increased glucocorticoid (GC) action and weight gain. However, the response to GCs is not only determined by GC serum concentrations, but also by individual differences in tissue-specific sensitivity, influenced by genetic and acquired (e.g. disease-related) factors. The extent to which differences in GC sensitivity may influence development of (abdominal) obesity, or vice versa, is poorly understo...

Background: Haplo-insufficiency of the Myelin-Regulatory Factor (MYRF) gene causes cardiac-urogenital syndrome (CUGS) and Differences in Sexual Development (DSD) in 46,XY and 46,XX (OMIM #618280). The gene product, a transcription factor, is involved in development of Coelomic epithelium derived cells, and likely causative for DSD. To date, only a few MYRF de novo variants are reported in children with DSD and associated CUGS symptoms.<s...