The current issue of „Progress in Medicine” is addressed to pediatricians as well as specialists in children’s endocrinology and diabetes. The issue comprises several original and casuistic works which discuss complicated diagnostic and therapeutic problems.

Diagnosis and treatment of children’s endoctrine disorders resulting from hormone hypersecretion or hyposecretion require not only excellent knowledge of symptoms and treatment strategies but also experience-based knowledge of child physiology and regulations of the endoctrine system at each stage of child development. The widening scope of genetic testing facilitates prompt identification of those patients who may present hormonal disorders already in childhood. However, hormonal intervention in children may result in a variety of complications both in childhood and adult life.

Hopefully, the current issue of „Progress in Medicine” which we are now offering our Readers will be of interest not only to pediatricians but also to general practitioners and endocrinologists dedicated to the health care of young patients on threshold of adult life.

First comes the work of Rumińska et al. „Relationship between adiponectin levels and metabolic syndrome components in obese children and adolescents” in which the role of adiponectin in the development of metabolic syndrome in obese children is discussed at length. Adiponectin belongs to a group of adipokines with protective and anti-atherogenic properties. As demonstrated in the study of 122 patients of the Clinical Department of Endocrinology and Pediatrics a 1 unit increase in adiponectin level results in a 0.9 fold reduction of the risk of a low < 40 mg/dl HDL-C level which is lower for most obese children. The results confirm the significant consequences of childhood obesity for development of the metabolic syndrome.

The aim of the next study by Rogozińska et al. „Factors contributing to the development of diseases of the oral mucosa and gums in children with type 1 diabetes” was analysis of the effect of chronic disease of several-month/year duration on oral mucosa and gums. It has been demonstrated that in diabetic children hyperglicemia favours oral mucosa diseases and fungal Candida spp. infections which need to be considered as possible complications.

„The use of fine needle aspiration biopsy in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules” is a study by Grajewska et al. which presents research material of 37 patients aged 7-18 years qualified for biosy because of superficial palpable lesions in thyroid nodules. The microscopical changes were described according the cytological picture and graded by recommended diagnostic categories using Bethesda System. The results are presented in a special table. The study confirmed that this technique provides a differential diagnosis between benign and malignant changes enabling appropriate therapeutic management and the determination of the correct surgical procedure when surgery is required.

The next two works refer to children with growth hormone deficiency.