No abstract

Early diagnosis of Turner syndrome (TS) enables timely intervention and may improve outcomes, but many are still diagnosed late. The objectives of our study were to describe the age and clinical features leading to diagnosis of TS in a large referral center. We hypothesize that newer testing modalities, such as noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT), may lead to a decline in the age of diagnosis. Medical records of TS patients followed at The Cincinnati Center for Pediatric and Adult TS Care between 1997 and 2016 were reviewed for age at diagnosis, karyotype, and clinical indication(s). Patients (<18 years) were included (n = 239). Thirty‐seven percent of patients were diagnosed prenatally or neonatally (≤1 month). The median age of diagnosis was 1.5 (IQR 0.0–10.0) years. If not made during those periods, the median age was 9.3 (IQR 3.2–12.5) years. The most common indications for diagnosis were before birth, unspecified prenatal testing (57%); in neonates/infants, lymphedema (21%); in childhood, short stature (72%); and in adolescence, short stature (45%) followed by pubertal delay with short stature (22%). The age of TS diagnosis in our cohort is young. However, when the diagnosis is not made before 1 year, the median age of diagnosis has not changed in recent years. The age at diagnosis could decrease with prenatal testing, although our study may not have assessed a long enough period of increased use of NIPT. Together with an increase in provider clinical awareness, this may result in more age‐appropriate screening of comorbidities and earlier therapeutic intervention.

Intro: Adult women with Turner syndrome (TS) have a high prevalence of diabetes and β-cell dysfunction that increases morbidity and mortality, but, it is unknown if there is β-cell dysfunction present in youth with TS. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of β-cell dysfunction in youth with TS and the impact of traditional therapies on insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion. Methods: Cross-sectional, observational study recruited 60 girls with TS and 60 healthy controls (HC) matched on pubertal status. Each subject had a history, physical exam and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Oral glucose and c-peptide minimal modeling was used to determine β-cell function. Results: Twenty-one TS girls (35%) met criteria for pre-diabetes. Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) was present in 18% of girls with TS and 2% HC (p-value = 0.0003). Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) was present in 23% of TS girls and 0% HC (p-value < 0.001). The HbA1c was not different between TS and HC (median 5%, p= 0.42). Youth with TS had significant reductions in insulin sensitivity (SI), β-cell responsivity (Φ), and disposition index (DI) compared to HC. These differences remained significant when controlling for BMI z-score (p-values: 0.0006, 0.002, <0.0001 for SI, Φtotal, DI, respectively). Conclusions: β-cell dysfunction is present in youth with TS compared to controls. The presence of both reduced insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity suggest a unique TS-related glycemic phenotype. Based on the data from this study, we strongly suggest that providers employ serial OGTT to screen for glucose abnormalities in TS youth.