ESPE Abstracts

Background: In children born SGA with persistent short stature, growth hormone (GH) treatment is an approved therapy for increasing adult height (AH). Some SGA children have an advanced bone age (BA) during GH. Heterozygous mutations in the ACAN-gene have been described in children with idiopathic short stature and advanced BA.Objective and hypotheses: To assess growth during GH treatment with additional GnRHa treatment, in children with ACAN-gene mutati...

Background: GH treatment is effective in improving adult height (AH) in short children born Small for Gestational Age. If SGA children are short at the start of puberty, they could benefit from combined GH/GnRH Analogue (GnRHa) treatment.Objective and hypotheses: To determine the timing and progression of pubertal development in short SGA children, comparing GH treatment with combined GH/GnRHa treatment.Method: For the present stud...

Background: DAVID syndrome (deficit in anterior pituitary function and variable immune deficiency) (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 97 E121, 2012) can be caused by NFKB2 mutations (Am J Hum Genet 93 13, 2013). All patients have an orthotopic posterior pituitary (PP) and most only ACTH deficiency.Objective and Hypothesis: To describe a girl with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), ectopic PP (EPP) ...

Background: In gender dysphoric adolescents GnRH agonists can be used to suppress pubertal development of the natal sex. Subsequently cross sex hormones can be given to induce pubertal development of the experienced gender. Only few data are available on the safety of this treatment. Lipid levels are known to increase during puberty and pubertal suppression may alter this increase. In gender dysphoric male-to female (MtF) adults oestrogens has been shown to result in a more fa...

Background: CHARGE syndrome (acronym for coloboma of the eye, heart defects, atresia of the choanae, retardation of growth and/or development, genital hypoplasia, and ear abnormalities) is caused by a mutation in the CHD7 gene. CHARGE syndrome shares features with Prader-Willi syndrome, especially regarding hypothalamic-pituitary abnormalities. In Prader-Willi syndrome, central adrenal insufficiency (CAI) during stressful conditions has been described in a large number of pati...

Background: In gender dysphoric adolescents GnRH agonists can be used to suppress pubertal development of the natal sex. The metabolic implications of the pubertal suppression have not yet been explored. Insulin sensitivity is known to be influenced by pubertal changes. During puberty a decrease in insulin sensitivity is normally observed.Objective and hypotheses: The effects of GnRH agonists on insulin sensitivity during 2 years of treatment in adolesce...

Background: Central diabetes insipidus may result from mutations in the preproAVP gene, most often heterozygous and occurring de novo or inherited in an autosomal dominant mode; in these cases, intracellular accumulation of the misfolded product of the mutated allele slowly destroys the AVP-producing neurons, so that the onset of symptoms may be delayed for up to 28 years by which time the posterior pituitary hyperintense signal is no longer visible on magnetic resonance imagi...

Background: Congenital panhypopituitarism is associated with a variety of gene mutations. Abnormalities in the Gli2 gene were only recently described to be associated with congenital panhypopituitarism (Franca et al. 2010). Gli2 is a gene that encodes a transcription factor downstream of the Sonic Hedgehog pathway – known to play an important role in morphogenesis during embryology.Objective and hypotheses: Although Gli2 mutations were described to ...

Background: IGFI regulates early postnatal growth of preterm infants and also plays an important role in growth in childhood. Very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants are at risk for reduced growth in early childhood.Objective and hypotheses: To compare IGFI and the correlation to growth parameters in infancy and early childhood in VLBW and term appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants.Method: We included 41 VLBW children and 64 t...

Background and Objectives: Childhood obesity is a global public health threat, with an alarming rise in incidence. Obesity at young age has short-term consequences, as well as long-term morbidity. It is, therefore, important to determine body composition longitudinal throughout infancy and childhood to prevent excess adiposity. Multiple methods are used to determine body composition in infants and young children, but none are described as suitable for longitud...