Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Acromegaly is a rare disease with multiple serious comorbidities. The aim of this study was to gather information on patients diagnosed with Acromegaly from 1955 through 2010.

Materials and methods: Information on patients with pituitary adenomas diagnosed from 1950 has aldready been gathered and and imported to patient journals at the National University Hospital in Iceland. In this retrospective study information on patients diagnosed with Acromegaly in the years 1955–2010 was gathered from these journals as well as from files at private clinics where some patients recieved follow-up care. All practising endocrinologists in Iceland were contacted to make sure all known cases were included.

Results: Forty-six (n=46, 19 women, 27 men) were diagnosed with Acromegaly during the study period. During the years 1955–1964: 2 patients were diagnosed; 1965 – 1974: 3 patients; 1975–1984: 7 patients, 1985–1994: 11 patients, 1995–2004: 7 patients and in the last 7 years, from 2005–2010: 16 patients. The average age at diagnosis was 43.11 years. Seven patients have died. Symptoms had been present for more than three years in most cases but in three cases for at least 15 years. The most common symptoms at presentation were enlargement of hands and feet as well as changes in facial features. At diagnosis, 21 patients had hypertension.

Conclusion: We found the incidence for Acromegaly to be much higher than earlier reported. During the last 6 years of the study 8.6 patients were diagnosed per million per year which is more than two times higher than what should be expected according to earlier reports (3–4 cases per million per year). Interestingly almost 46% of the patient population had hypertension at diagnosis indicating the importance of endocrine disorders in the aetiology of hypertension.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.