Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Acromegaly is an underdiagnosed condition that is responsible for multiple complications. The purpose of this work is to examine the prevalence of these complications at time of diagnosis.

Patients and methods: This retrospective study included 10 patients diagnosed with acromegaly followed in the endocrinology – diabetology department of Mohamed VI university hospital.

Results: Mean age at diagnosis was 49 years with a sex ratio (M/F) =0.66. The average diagnosis delay was 8 years. The pituitary adenoma was the etiological diagnosis in all our patients. In terms of endocrine function, 80% of the patients had gonadotropic insufficiency, 40% of them presented thyrotropic insufficiency, 20% had corticotropic insufficiency, and 50% had hyperprolactinemia. Cardiovascular complications were dominated by Left Ventricular hypertrophy in 60% of cases and hypertension in 40% of them. Only one case of valvulopathy complicated by atrial fibrillation was found. Sleep apnea syndrome was diagnosed in half of our patients. Concerning metabolic effects of acromegaly, 60% showed a carbohydrate metabolism disorder and 30% had dyslipemia. As for osteoarticular complications, 9 patients had extremities hypertrophy, 5 patients suffered from arthralgia and 1 patient presented carpal tunnel syndrome. Tumoral complications were also noticed: goiter was present in 100% of cases and colonic polyps in 40% of cases.

Conclusion: Several complications are already present at time of diagnosis of acromegaly hence the importance and necessity of their screening and specialized management.