Endocrine Abstracts

Although GH has been implicated in the pathogenesis of retinopathy in diabetic subjects, the frequency of retinopathy in diabetic acromegalic subjects is deemed to be rare. The aim of our study is to evaluate the prevalence of retinopathy in hypersomatotropic patients.

Subjects and methods: In total, 40 acromegalic diabetic patients (21 M, 19 F, mean age=50 years) underwent funduscopy to search for diabetic retinopathy

Results: Among 40 patients, only five have retinopathy (prevalence=12.5%), it was at an early stage in three cases (background retinopathy) and at a more advanced stage in two cases (proliferative retinopathy). The mean age was 44.6±15.12 years in patients with retinopathy vs 51.31±13.13 years in patients without retinopathy. There was no correlation with GH levels: 56.8±42.87 ng/ml in patients with retinopathy vs 65.15±70.49 ng/ml in patients without retinopathy, but there was correlation with glycemic control: all patients with retinopathy had bad glycemic control whereas 50% of those without retinopathy had bad glycemic control.

Conclusion: We conclude from this study that diabetic retinopathy is rare in acromegaly. Among different factors only glycemic control seems to be implicated in its pathogenesis

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.