ESPE Abstracts

Background and Aims: Children with Down's syndrome (DS) are at increased risk of autoimmune conditions including type 1 diabetes (T1D), coeliac and thyroid disease. We previously examined the clinical and immunogenetic characteristics of these conditions in children with DS. An earlier age-of-onset of diabetes was observed compared with children with T1D from the general population despite having decreased frequencies of the established genetic susceptibil...

Background: Williams Syndrome (WS) is a multisystemic genetic syndrome, which includes characteristic appearance of “elfian face”, growth retardation, mild mental retardation, hypersociality, infantile hypercalcemia, and other endocrine, cardiovascular, and urinary abnormalities. WS is caused by the microdeletion of chromosome 7q11.23; it is usually sporadic but rare autosomal dominant familial cases have been reported in the literature. We present a boy and his moth...

Background: 15% of patients with Williams syndrome develop hypercalcemia that is described as mild and transient. There are, however, reported cases with severe hypercalcemia that did not respond to traditional therapy. Pamidronate was used in the treatment of this condition, and was successful in the few reported cases in the literature.Case presentation: We report a 9 month old female who presented with failure to thrive, polyuria and polydipsia. She h...

Background: Despite the multiple endocrine, cardiovascular, and gastroenterologic problems of patients with Williams-Beuren Syndrome (WBS), Studies considering metabolism and bone quality in WBS are almost entirely absent from the literature.Objective and hypotheses: We evaluate bone mineral status and metabolism in a cohort of patients with WBS.Method: Thirty-one children (15 females, 16 male...

Background: Thyroid disorders (subclinical hypothyroidism and structural abnormalities) are common in Williams syndrome (WS) patients.Objective and hypotheses: Central hypothyroidism and GH deficiency (GHD) in a WS patient are discussed.Method: Case report and literature review.Results: A 5-month-old male was admitted to our hospital because of growth failure since the 3rd month, mild dysmorphisms, micropenis...

Background: WBS is a rare genetic disorder characterized by distinctive facial features, intellectual disability, cardiovascular anomalies, and infantile hypercalcemia.Objective and hypotheses: Majority of WBS cases occur sporadically, only five families with clinically confirmed WBS have been identified by molecular cytogenetic analysis. Here, we report on the three molecular cytogenetically confirmed familial WBS detected in a family with familial shor...

Case reports: Patient 1 was diagnosed with Williams Syndrome (WS) when she was 11 years-old. She presented typical facial features, mental retardation (IQ 34) and chronic constipation. Pregnancy and neonatal period were unremarkable. Her growth has always been satisfying. No cardiac defects were detected at echocardiogram. Cerebral MRI showed enlarged pituitary (height of 9 mm) in the contest of which a mass with suprasellar extension was detected. Thyroid and adrenal...

Objectives: Hypercalcaemia, hypothyroidism, and early puberty are the most common endocrine disorders defined in Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS). Here, endocrine evaluation and long-term follow-up of seven patients with WBS are given.Methods: Data were obtained from patient’s medical records. WBS was diagnosed by demonstration of the deletion on chromosome 7 by using FISH method (7q11.23). OGTT were performed in four patients. Thyroid ultrasonography...

Background: Pre- and postnatal growth retardation of unknown pathogenesis is a common clinical feature in patients with Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS). However, growth hormone deficiency (GHD) has not been considered a major cause of growth retardation.Case reports: We report two female patients with confirmed WBS who had defective GH secretion in response to two provocative tests and low IGF-I level and their growth response to GH therapy for 9 years. T...

Background: The BoneXpert method is an automated determination of bone age, which employs deformable models of each bone to locate the bones, and extracts the component of the bone appearance related to maturity in a holistic, statistical manner. The BoneXpert has been validated on normal children and children with diagnoses typical of pediatric endocrinology. Multiple clinical studies suggested that BoneXpert has adequate accuracy, precision, and efficiency to be clinically u...