Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Acromegaly is a chronic, slowly progressing disease caused in most cases by growth hormone (GH)- producing pituitary adenoma. This rare disorder is associated with a spectrum of various clinical manifestations and treatment outcomes differ between patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of adenoma size on comorbidities and biochemical status at the diagnosis of disease.

Methods: This is a one-centre cohort study conducted among adult patients with confirmed acromegaly. Baseline data regarding biochemical and radiological status were collected retrospectively. We performed a comparative analytical analysis between two subgroups: • G1: patients with pituitary adenoma larger than 20mm (n = 17) • G2: patients with pituitary adenoma smaller than 20mm (n= 12)

Results: 29 adult patients were included with a mean age at diagnosis of 45,8 ± 12,4 years. Both genders and age did not differ between the two subgroups. Adenoma size greater than 20 mm (G2) was significantly associated with a higher GH level. Furthermore, there was a positive and significant (P< 0.05) correlation between baseline GH level and adenoma size. All patients in G2 had an intact gonadotropic axis, whereas more than half of those in G1 had gonadotropic insufficiency (P< 0,05). The differences in the occurrence of hyperprolactinemia, of corticotropic and thyrotropic insufficiencies were not statistically significant between the two subgroups.

Conclusion: According to our results, the clinical course of acromegaly is influenced by adenoma size at the onset of symptoms. This difference should be considered when treating patients with acromegaly.