ESPE Abstracts

Background: Homozygous aggrecan (ACAN) mutations have been described in a few skeletal dysplasias whilst more recently, heterozygous ACAN mutations have been reported in few families presenting with idiopathic short stature with advanced bone maturation and premature growth cessation.Case presentation: We describe two novel heterozygous ACAN stop mutations, detected using a skeletal dysplasia NGS panel and confirmed by Sanger sequencing...

Background: The human growth pattern varies from intrauterine to extrauterine life, with the GH-IGF axis being immature at birth and IGF-I assuming an important role in promoting postnatal growth. The actions of IGF-I are modulated by its interactions with IGFBPs, with this interaction being regulated by pappalysins (PAPP-A, PAPP-A2) and stanniocalcins (STC-1, STC-2), and thus modifying the amount of free IGF-I.Objective:</strong...

Background-Aim: Gene rearrangements between CYP21A2, TNXB and their homologous pseudogenes (CYP21A1P,TNXA) result in chimeric genes, responsible for the CAHX syndrome. CAHX patients show CAH and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) symptoms. Three CAHX chimeras with different clinical severity are described: CH1 (including 120bp deletion in exon 35), CH2 and CH3. The small size and few series reported so far warrant further studies ...

Background: In infants under 3 years of age acquired primary hypothyroidism caused by autoimmune thyroiditis is very rare. Hypothyroidism can manifest with different signs and symptoms and has a wide range of presentations from subclinical hypothyroidism to overt form.Objective and hypotheses: We describe a child with an unusual hypothyroidism presentation characterized by multi-organ involvement and related to acquired autoimmune thyroiditis during a ve...

Objective: Postprandial hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia (PPHH) or “late dumping syndrome” is a well-recognised complication following gastrointestinal surgery and has been less commonly identified idiopathically in paediatric patients. This study describes and compares the characteristics, diagnosis, management and outcomes of paediatric idiopathic and surgical PPHH.Design: Retrospective chart review of child...

Background: Phthalates are ubiquitous environmental contaminants and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Nowadays, they are considered reproductive toxicants and in-utero exposure is well documented, although evidence of early life exposure is scarce, and needs to be described. Aim of this study is to assess phthalate exposure and its changes over the first months of life in a cohort of healthy full term infants and their mothers from a restricted area of t...

Background: The decreased immune tolerance caused by mutations of the autoimmune regulatory gene (AIRE) lead to a spectrum of variable organ specific autoimmune disorders known as autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 1 (APS-1). The rarity of the syndrome and the heterogenous clinical manifestations at the onset of the disease may delay the diagnosis. Only when two major components of the triad chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis – hypoparathyroidism &nda...

Introduction: Ectopic posterior pituitary (EPP) is a radiological diagnosis likely caused by a migration defect that occurs during pituitary development. We aim to describe the clinical characteristics and hormonal deficiencies seen in patients with EPP.Method: Longitudinal observational study performed in a single [HK1] [NM2] centre from 1993-2020. As per MRI findings, cases were divided into three cohorts 1) C1: EPP on...

Background: The activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis during the first months both in males(M) and females(F) is named as minipuberty. Urinary gonadotropins (uGn) represent an unexpensive and non-invasive method of assessing pubertal development and they have recently been used also for studying minipuberty.Aims of the study are: 1) to describe the urinary hormonal pattern (uLH, uFSH, testosterone – uT, oestra...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact healthcare overall particularly in relation to diabetes. Initial studies showed delays in emergent healthcare utilization, decreased preventative care visits, and more severe presentations of new onset diabetes. However, the pathophysiologic relationship between COVID-19 and type 1 diabetes is not yet well understood.Objectives: Our primary objective was to compare th...