Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction and purpose: Acromegaly is characterised by a chronic increase of GH and IGF-1 levels that may induce various clinical symptoms and multisystem comorbidities. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the type and frequency of thyroid disease most often associated with acromegaly patients.

Material and methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study analysing the data from the observation charts of 77 patients with acromegaly (58 females and 19 males), with a mean age of 54 years, evaluated between July 2007 and July 2014 in the Endocrinology department. The recorded data were: acromegaly status, sonographic thyroid morphology, thyroid function, and pathological data after surgical cure. The statistical analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel 2010.

Results: The acromegaly status was active for 49% of the patients, controlled in 37%, and cured in 14%. 96% of the patients were treated, the most common combination being surgical treatment+radiotherapy+medication (39%). Thyroid disease was diagnosed in 54 patients (70.12%). Nodular goiter had the highest prevalence rate (27.27%), followed by Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (12.98%) and thyroid cancer (10.38%). The occurrence of thyroid pathology was almost equal in women (70.68%) and men (68.42%). Thyroid disease was most frequent for the ≥60 years old age range, while acromegaly was most frequent in the 40–50 years old range. Other malignant diseases were diagnosed in 5% of the patients.

Conclusions: Thyroid disease is a frequent complication of acromegaly, with nodular goiter having the highest prevalence rate. In terms of malignant pathology, in our study, thyroid cancer had the highest prevalence rate (10.38%). This indicates the need for a systematic evaluation in order to achieve an early diagnosis.