ESPE Abstracts

Background: Age at onset of puberty exhibits a remarkable variation mirroring nutritional, environmental, socioeconomic and genetic factors. While large genome-wide association studies identified more than hundred genetic loci associated with age at menarche in girls, knowledge on loci associated with age at pubertal onset in boys is sparse. FSHB/FSHR genetic variants have been shown to affect pubertal timing in girls and reproductive parameters in men.<p class="a...

Background: Children exposed to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in utero have higher risk of development of glucose intolerance and diabetes mellitus.Objective and hypotheses: The study was undertaken to assess the selected carbohydrate parameters in children exposed to gestational diabetes in utero.Method: 50 children exposed to gestational diabetes were compared with 46 control subjects. Anthropometric parameters of a newborn...

Background: Pubertal children born small for gestational age (SGA) with a poor adult height (AH) expectation can benefit from treatment with GH 1 mg/m2 per day (~0.033 mg/kg per day) in combination with 2 years of GnRH analogue (2 years GnRHa) and even more so with 2 mg/m2 per day (~0.067 mg/kg per day). Concerns haven been raised about the effects of GH and GnRHa on insulin sensitivity on the long-term.Objective and hypotheses: To ...

Introduction: Genetic syndromes often show suggestive facial features that provide clues for the diagnosis. Considering the high number of genetic syndromes and the possible overlap of some features, memorizing facial gestalt is a challenging task for clinicians. DeepGestalt technology, and its app Face2Gene, has a growing impact on the diagnosis and management of genetic diseases by analyzing the features detected in one or more facial images of affected indi...

Background: Increased cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality was reported in adults who were treated with growth hormone (GH) during childhood, including those born SGA, compared to the general population. However, previous studies did not have an appropriate control group of untreated SGA adults which was a major limitation.Objective: To assess cerebrovascular abnormalities (aneurysms, previous intracerebral hemorrhage...

Background: Pycnodysostosis is a very rare autosomal recessive skeletal dysplasia caused by cathepsin K deficiency. It is characterized by extreme short stature resulting in an adult height in males typically <150 cm and in females <134 cm. Bone-fragility and frequent fractures are present. There are few case-reports on the effects of GH treatment.Objective: To evaluate the effect and safety of GH in 6 patients wit...

Down syndrome (DS) is characterized by a higher incidence of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) and a high prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) early in life. Children and adults with DS have an increased risk of developing autoimmune thyroid disease, however CH and early SH cannot be explained by thyroid autoimmunity. The etiology of CH and early SH in DS remains to be elucidated. Considering the recently discovered genome-wide transcriptional and epigenetic alterations ...

Context: Non-classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (NCCAH) diagnosed in childhood, whether treated or untreated, could pose an increased risk of obesity and metabolic derangements in adolescence and early adulthood. Both sustained hyperandrogenism and chronic glucocorticoid therapy may affect body composition. However, little is known about the body composition of subjects with NCCAH and its contribution to the development of adverse metabolic outcomes. <...

Context: In children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), the benefits of growth hormone (GH) treatment are well established. Currently, when young adults with PWS have attained adult height (AH), they have to stop GH treatment. Several one year studies have shown that GH treatment is also beneficial for adults with PWS, improving body composition. However, little is known about the longer-term effects.Objective: To investi...

Introduction: Recombinant Growth Hormone (GH) has changed the lives of many patients with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). GH treatment has beneficial effects on body composition, physical performance, cognition, psychomotor development, respiratory function and quality of life of patients with PWS. Due to the narrow therapeutic range, GH treatment is subject to strict limits. Clinicians measure serum immunoreactive Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 ('total IGF-I&#...