View clinical trials related to Disorders of Sex Development.
Filter by:Disorders of growth, puberty and sex development can have genetic causes. The exome analysis could detect new mutations responsible for these disorders and the frequency of these mutations in these disorders, their association with other malformations.
This study seeks to identify genetic causes of conditions that affect the gonads and genitals, and to study the impact on families of receiving genetic results.
Minipuberty is a term used to describe the transient activation of the pituitary-gonadal axis 2-3 months after birth in both boys and girls. It is, however, not known why infants reach adult levels of reproductive hormones in early life, nor is the exact timing of the peak known. Furthermore, what determines the timing of peaks and suppressions of reproductive hormones from infancy throughout childhood and into adolescence remains to be elucidated. The study aims to described and evaluate dynamic changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary- gonadal axis in early postnatal life.
The birth of a child with a disorder of sex development (DSD) is stressful for parents and members of the healthcare team. The "right" decisions about gender assignment (is it a boy? a girl?) and the best course of action (e.g., should there be surgery? what kind? when?) are not obvious. While there have been large advances in diagnostic assessments like genetic and endocrine testing, the tests do not always show what caused the DSD. And, even when the tests do reveal an explanation for the DSD, knowing what happened genetically or hormonally does not usually lead to a single "correct" treatment plan. Instead, it is likely that there are different acceptable treatment options - and parents will need to make decisions based, in part, on their personal preferences, values, and cultural background. Adding more stress to the situation is knowledge that many of the decisions that need to be made by parents early in a child's life are irreversible and exert life-long consequences for the child and the family. To support parents becoming actively involved in making such decisions, and to reduce the likelihood of future worry and regret about decisions that have been made, the investigators will create a decision support tool (DST). The DST will help educate families about typical and atypical sex development of the body, the process by which DSD are diagnosed (especially how to interpret genetic test results), and possible relationships between diagnostic/genetic testing, decisions about care, and known consequences of those decisions on their child and entire family. The DST will be used by parents of young children together with their child's health care provider. The investigators will bring together a network of researchers, health care providers, representatives of patient support and advocacy organizations, and parents of children with DSD to share their experiences. Participants of this network will be involved at each stage of creating the DST, revising it, and putting it into practice. At the end of this project, the investigators will have a fully formed DST that will be available for parents to use with their child's healthcare team as they are first learning their child may have a DSD.
The extend of steroid biosynthesis and action is mainly dependent on underlying genetic polymorphisms and gene mutations. These sequence variations in multiple genes involved in steroid biosynthesis and action cause different diseases (for example congenital adrenal hyperplasia or disorders of sex development). In addition, sequence variations in several other genes may influence the severity of a genetically caused disease of steroid biosynthesis or action. By this, the differences in an observed phenotype may be explained. Within the study all genes necessary for adrenal and gonadal steroid biosynthesis and several genes which are known to influence the action of steroid hormones will be analysed in patients with congenital disorders of adrenal and gonadal steroid biosynthesis, disorders of steroid action and disorders of sex development. The primary aim is to set up a correlation of the disease phenotype with the different genotypes detected.