ESPE Abstracts

Background: It is well known that endocrine comorbidities occur frequently in children with cancer, especially in those with a brain tumor. In those children, increased intracranial pressure or hydrocephalus may lead to central precocious puberty. Furthermore, chemotherapy, especially alkylating agents, increases the risk for gonadal insufficiency. In this case series we describe 3 young girls with a brain tumor, who develop premature gonadotrophic activation,...

Background: Prediction models demonstrate potential in predicting growth in patients receiving recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) for growth disorders. However, considerable information from patients is needed to calculate a predicted growth curve. The curve matching technique only requires height data. This technique identifies growth curves that are similar (matched) among real-world patients within a database. The growth curves of these ‘matched...

Poor adherence to long-term growth hormone (GH) treatment can lead to suboptimal clinical outcomes. The easypod™ connect eHealth platform enables healthcare professionals to obtain an accurate picture of real-world adherence by allowing patients to transmit adherence data to a database. Our aims were to assess adherence to r-hGH (Saizen, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) treatment with the easypod connect platform in children from treatment start to 48 months and to investi...

Background: 46,XY patients with 5α-reductase deficiency (5-ARD), reared from birth as girls, are reported to self-reassign as boys subsequent to a masculinizing puberty; whether this holds true in cases of early orchidectomy is less well documented.Objective and hypotheses: Prepubertal orchidectomy reduces the likelihood of gender self-reassignment.Method: Presentation, management and outcome of two siblings with 5-ARD with na...

Background: Obese children come from families where either one or both parents are obese, suggesting obesity is the result of exposure to detrimental environment.Objective and hypotheses: We propose that inherited insulin resistance is the core which promotes development of obesity and that allergic airway obstruction stalls development of obesity, while peptic gastritis promotes over-eating by confounding portion control.Method: W...

Introduction: Lockdown measures following the COVID-19 pandemic are shown to have greatly affected lifestyle behaviours and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children. The impact on children with severe obesity has not yet been described. Aim of this study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on eating behaviours, physical activity (PA), screen time, and HRQoL of children (including adolescents) with severe obesity....

Introduction: Ghrelin binds to its receptor GHSR1A, encoded by GHSR, on somatotrophs of the pituitary. Growth hormone (GH) secretion is enhanced by ghrelin binding as well as the receptor’s constitutive activity. Results from in vitro experiments, knock-out mice, and GWAS suggest that heterozygous loss-of-function of GHSR may be associated with short stature, but observations in case studies are equivocal. We aimed to better ch...

Background: Although Ramadan fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam and is compulsory for all healthy Muslims from puberty onwards, religious exemptions exist for patients with type 1Diabetes. The risks of fasting include: hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, ketoacidosis, thrombotic episodes, and dehydration. Many adolescents still insist to fast due to religious or social motives.Objectives: To study the risks and metabol...

Context: Osteocalcin is a bone formation marker that has recently sparked interest for its endocrine involvement in glucose homeostasis and obesity. Nevertheless, its natural pattern during infancy and early childhood remains unknown.Objectives: We established reference values for total serum osteocalcin during specific timepoints from birth until five years of age, and presented these in the context of covariates.<p...

Gender dysphoria indicates a psychological distress due to any incongruence between biological sex and gender identity, while transgender identity refers to an individual, whose gender identity is the opposite of the biological sex. The number of gender dysphoric youth seeking hormonal care seems to rise worldwide. Therefore, numerous bioethical and medical controversies are raising about possible side effects of hormonal therapies, including interference with brain developmen...