Further Delineation of Liver Involvement in Girls and Women with Turner Syndrome: Case Report of a 2-Year-Old with Liver Dysfunction and Review of Patients Followed in the MassGeneral Hospital Turner Syndrome Clinic

Hepatic abnormalities in youth with Turner syndrome

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Liver disease in children with Turner Syndrome (TS) is poorly understood relative to associated growth, cardiac and reproductive complications. This study sought to better characterize hepatic abnormalities in a large national cohort of youth with TS.

METHODS

Using electronic health record data from PEDSnet institutions, 2145 females with TS were matched to 8580 females without TS on eight demographic variables. Outcomes included liver enzymes (AST and ALT) stratified as normal, 1-2 times above the upper limit of normal (ULN), 2-3 times ULN and >3 times ULN, as well as specific liver disease diagnoses.

RESULTS

Fifty-eight percent of youth with TS had elevated liver enzymes. Patients with TS had higher odds of enzymes 1-2 times ULN (OR: 1.7, 95% CI: 1.4-1.9), 2-3 times ULN (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.7-3.3) and >3 times ULN (OR: 1.7, 95% CI: 1.3-2.2). They also had higher odds of any liver diagnosis (OR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.7-3.3), fatty liver disease (OR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.1-3.2), hepatitis (OR: 3.7, 95% CI: 1.9-7.1), cirrhosis/fibrosis (OR: 5.8, 95% CI: 1.3-25.0) and liver tumour/malignancy (OR: 4.8, 95% CI: 1.4-17.0). In a multinomial model, age, BMI and presence of cardiovascular disease or diabetes significantly increased the odds of elevated liver enzymes in girls with TS.

CONCLUSIONS

Youth with TS have higher odds for elevated liver enzymes and clinically significant liver disease compared with matched controls. These results emphasize the need for clinical screening and additional research into the aetiology and treatment of liver disease in TS.

LAY SUMMARY

Turner Syndrome, a chromosomal condition in which females are missing the second sex chromosome, is often associated with short stature, infertility and cardiac complications. Liver abnormalities are less well described in the literature. In this study, nearly 60% of youth with TS have elevated liver enzymes. Furthermore, patients with TS had a diagnosis of liver disease more often than patients without TS. Our results support the importance of early and consistent liver function screening and of additional research to define mechanisms that disrupt liver function in paediatric TS females.

Liver abnormalities in Turner’s syndrome – the importance of estrogen replacement

Turner syndrome is one of the most frequently reported sex chromosomal abnormalities, affecting approximately 40 in every 100 000 live female births. The underlying chromosomal alteration is the complete or partial loss of X chromosome or mosaicism. Because of primary ovarian insufficiency, the synthesis of estrogen hormones is compromised, and patients require hormone substitution. Apart from the phenotypical presentation (short stature, primary amenorrhea), the effects of ovarian insufficiency can affect diverse organ systems (such as cardiovascular, endocrine, and lymphatic systems). Hepatobiliary pathology can present on a broad spectrum: from mild asymptomatic hypertransaminasemia to marked architectural changes. Estrogen hormone replacement therapy in these patients can improve the perturbations of laboratory values and can attenuate the progression of hepatic structural changes. Moreover, providing sufficient estrogen replacement has numerous benefits for other conditions of the patients as well. Both the all-cause mortality and deaths from cardiovascular complications are greatly increased in Turner syndrome, and hormone replacement might contribute to the decreased incidence of these events. The diagnostics of Turner syndrome are outside the scope of our paper, and we briefly discuss the cardiovascular complications because many the liver involvement partially involves alterations of vascular origin. Though we sought to highlight the importance of proper hormone replacement therapy, we did not attempt to write a comprehensive recommendation for exact treatment protocols. We provided an overview of preferred therapeutic approaches, as the treatment should be tailored according to the individual patient’s needs.