Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “ACROMEGALY”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,459 records · Page 81Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Therapy of acromegaly with SMS 201-995: long-term studies.

Fourteen acromegalic patients, half of whom had been unsuccessfully treated with surgery, radiotherapy, or bromocriptine, were given the somatostatin analogue SMS 201-995 parenterally as the sole therapeutic regimen after a single administration had demonstrated suppression of serum growth hormone (GH). An impressive and sustained clinical improvement was documented in all patients, including those in whom bromocriptine had failed; most marked was the decrease in soft tissue swelling and headache and an improved performance status. GH levels decreased each time SMS 201-995 was injected but returned to basal levels within 8 h in most of the patients. With chronic therapy, 24-h mean levels were significantly suppressed, and the GH stimulability of thyrotrophin-releasing hormone and growth-hormone-releasing hormone (pl-44) was markedly reduced. Discontinuation of SMS 201-995 therapy was associated with a return of symptoms and abnormal GH dynamics. The efficacy and safety of chronically administered SMS 201-995 in active acromegaly opens new horizons for its treatment.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1990

Circadian profile of serum melatonin in Cushing's disease and acromegaly.

We evaluated the circadian profiles of serum melatonin (MT) and cortisol in 6 patients with Cushing's disease while those of serum MT and GH were evaluated in 8 patients with acromegaly. The control group consisted of 15 healthy subjects in whom MT, cortisol and GH were determined. The presence of a circadian rhythmicity was validated by the cosinor method, while the diurnal and nocturnal amount of MT secretion were expressed in terms of area under the curve. Gross alterations of MT rhythm were not apparent in Cushing's patients. In acromegalics, we observed a blunted day-night oscillation of MT accounted for by a significant increase of its secretion during the day-time period.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1996

Acromegaly, Mr Punch and caricature.

The origin of Mr Punch from the Italian Pulcinella of the Commedia dell'arte is well known but his feature, large hooked nose, protruding chin, kyphosis and sternal protrusion all in an exaggerated form also suggest the caricature of an acromegalic. This paper looks at the physical characteristics of acromegaly, the origin of Mr Punch and the development of caricature linking them together in the acromegalic caricature that now has a life of its own.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1977

Efficacy of cryohypophysectomy in the treatment of acromegaly. Evaluation of 54 cases.

Between 1963 and 1974, 54 patients with acromegaly (28 men and 26 women) ranging in age from 23 to 61 years were evaluated. Each patient underwent thorough preperative neurological, roentgenographic, and endocrinological surveys; most demonstrated mild-to-severe abnormalities in growth hormone immunoassay and oral glucose tolerance. Of those who underwent stereotaxic cryohypophysectomy, approximately 80% were considered to have a beneficial result. The efficacy of this form of therapy was judged on the basis of: 1) significant overall clinical improvement and regression of acromegalic features; 2) improvement in the glucose tolerance curve; and 3) a fall of serum growth hormone below 10 ng/ml. Complications including rhinorrhea, meningitis, and hemorrhage occurred in only a small number of cases. A comparison is made between this technique and other, including craniotomy, radiotherapy, and transnasal transsphenoidal hypophysectomy. The efficacy, low morbidity, and the ease with which the procedure may be performed make this our treatment of choice when dealing with growth-hormone-producing pituitary adenomas with no suprasellar extension.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1982

Acromegaly and spinal stenosis. Case report.

Spinal stenosis is a well defined clinical entity that is occasionally encountered in patients with acromegaly. Persistent elevation of growth hormone promotes hypertrophy of the bones and ligaments, resulting in widening of the thoracolumbar vertebral bodies, and developmental narrowing of the spinal canal. This report describes the case of a 54-year-old acromegalic man with a 30-year history of low-back pain. Who developed symptoms of spinal stenosis. This case and two similar cases from the literature are discussed, and the appropriate therapeutic approaches reviewed.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1983

Clinical use of pre- and postsurgical evaluation of abnormal GH responses in acromegaly.

The criteria by which acromegalic patients are considered "cured" after surgical therapy are still controversial. Since the abnormal growth hormone (GH) increase after the administration of some agents has been demonstrated to be characteristic of the tumoral somatotrophs, its disappearance after surgery may be taken as an index of the complete removal of the tumor. Serum GH increases after thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH, 200 micrograms intravenously), gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH, 100 micrograms intravenously), and sulpiride (100 mg intramuscularly) injected during dopamine infusion (DA-Slp test), were evaluated in 68 acromegalic patients before and after transnasosphenoidal adenomectomy, and every 12 to 18 months during a follow-up period of 6 months to 11 years (average 42 months). Forty-two patients had abnormal responses to at least one test before surgery: 32 out of 68 (47%) to TRH, six out of 40 (15%) to Gn-RH, and 20 out of 28 (71%) to the DA-Slp test. Of 18 patients who underwent all three tests, 78% had abnormal responses to at least one of them. Twenty-three patients became unresponsive after surgery, and none of them had a recurrence or became abnormally responsive again during the follow-up period. Three out of six patients with postoperative serum GH levels between 5.1 and 10 ng/ml and three out of six patients with postoperative serum GH levels between 2.1 and 5 ng/ml remained abnormally responsive: one of them relapsed 1 year after the operation. The abnormal responses were lost in all 11 patients whose postoperative serum GH levels were below 2 ng/ml, and abnormal responses were maintained in all the patients in whom surgery was considered unsuccessful because postoperative serum GH levels were higher than 10 ng/ml. The TRH, Gn-RH, and DA-Slp tests should thus be considered useful tools in verifying the total removal of an adenoma. The reappearance of active acromegaly in the patient with low postoperative GH levels, who was still responsive to TRH, should be regarded as a reactivation and not a true recurrence of the disease.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1989

Evaluation of selective transsphenoidal adenomectomy by endocrinological testing and somatomedin-C measurement in acromegaly.

A series of 29 previously untreated patients with acromegaly underwent transsphenoidal adenomectomy. Pre- and postoperative evaluation consisted of measuring growth hormone (GH) secretory dynamics during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), the insulin hypoglycemia test, and the thyrotropin- and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (TRH/GnRH) test, and by obtaining the basal somatomedin-C level. After surgery, clinical and biochemical amelioration was achieved in all but two patients. In the whole group, basal GH and somatomedin-C levels decreased from a mean (+/- standard error of the mean) of 52.3 +/- 12.7 to 11.1 +/- 6.3 ng/ml and from 7.6 +/- 0.7 to 2.5 +/- 0.5 U/ml, respectively. Application of different criteria of cure revealed that 19 patients (66%) had basal GH levels below 5 ng/ml, 17 patients (59%) had normal somatomedin-C values, 16 patients (55%) had complete GH suppression (less than 1 ng/ml) during OGTT, and 13 patients (45%) met the above-mentioned criteria with disappearance of the paradoxical GH response to TRH/GnRH test. Evaluation of GH secretion by insulin hypoglycemia testing was useless in assessing the outcome after neurosurgery. When only patients with a normal somatomedin-C level and complete GH suppressibility during OGTT were considered "cured," the main favorable prognostic factor was intrasellar tumor localization, since 15 (75%) of 20 patients were "cured," as opposed to only one (11%) of nine with extrasellar extension of the adenoma. During the follow-up period, no tumor recurrence was detected in any of the "cured" patients. In these subjects somatomedin-C levels remained stable in all except two patients, who showed a slow increase within the normal range of somatomedin-C concentration. These data confirm that transsphenoidal surgery is the most effective form of treatment in previously untreated acromegalic patients and that normalization of somatomedin-C levels reflects normal GH secretion. Measurement of somatomedin-C could replace more extensive endocrinological testing during monitoring of treated acromegalic patients.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1998

Long-term endocrinological follow-up evaluation in 115 patients who underwent transsphenoidal surgery for acromegaly.

OBJECT: The results of surgical therapy for acromegaly were assessed using carefully conducted endocrinological testing in 115 patients who underwent transsphenoidal surgery from 1981 to 1995. METHODS: Ninety-nine of the 115 patients could be contacted for follow-up review; in 57 of the patients an endocrinological assessment was performed by the authors. Biochemical cure was strictly defined as a normalization of the insulin-like growth factor(IGF)-I level (obtained in 100 patients) and/or a basal or glucose-suppressed growth hormone (GH) level of 2 ng/ml or less. The mean length of follow up from transsphenoidal surgery to laboratory testing was 5.4 years with a maximum of 15.7 years. After transsphenoidal surgery alone, 61% of the patients achieved a biochemical remission; the remission rate was 88% for patients with microadenomas and 53% for those with macroadenomas. Tumor size and preoperative GH level tended to correlate negatively with outcome of surgery. Early postoperative GH level tended to correlate with long-term outcome; in cases in which the early postoperative GH level was lower than 3 ng/ml, the chance of long-term remission was 89%. Thirty-two patients received postoperative radiotherapy: in 10 (31%) of these patients the disease is currently in remission after surgery and radiotherapy only and in three others the disease is in remission with the addition of medical therapy. The overall complication rate was 6.9% with no cerebrospinal fluid leaks, meningitis, permanent diabetes insipidus, or new hypopituitarism. The overall recurrence rate was low at 5.4%. CONCLUSIONS: This series shows, based on IFGF-I measurements and strict GH suppression criteria to define remission, that transsphenoidal surgery provides an excellent chance for long-term cure in patients with microadenomas. Surgery alone is successful in most patients with noninvasive macroadenomas; however, most patients with invasive macroadenomas will require adjunctive therapy. Recurrences are uncommon when biochemical remission is clearly documented postoperatively.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1978

Bromocriptine in treatment of acromegaly: Australian experience.

Ten acromegalics, 6 females and 4 males, aged 24 to 75, have been treated with bromocriptine (CB). Six patients responded clinically to CB: two subsequently escaped control, three have been treated continuously for from 14 to 32 months, and one withdrew because of side effects. Four patients failed to respond: one at 60 mg/day, two at only 20 mg/day and the fourth at 5 mg/day when treatment was ceased because of side effects. Three patients had severe illnesses during treatment and four patients were troubled by side effects. CB is useful in the treatment of acromegaly where other modalities are unsuitable.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1978

Treatment of acromegaly with bromocriptine.

Twelve patients with acromegaly were treated with bromocriptine for periods from nine to 23 months. All showed some clinical improvement. There was no significant difference in plasma growth hormone levels before and after therapy with bromocriptine, but a significant fall in plasma prolactin levels was observed after the bromocriptine therapy was commenced. The release of other pituitary hormones was not affected by bromocriptine.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1992

Octreotide treatment of acromegaly. A randomized, multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of the somatostatin analog, octreotide acetate, in patients with acromegaly. DESIGN: Double-blind, randomized trial. SETTING: Fourteen university-affiliated medical centers. PATIENTS: One hundred fifteen acromegalic patients, 70% of whom had persistent disease after pituitary surgery or radiotherapy. INTERVENTION: Subcutaneous octreotide, 100 micrograms, or placebo every 8 hours for 4 weeks. Four weeks after the end of treatment, patients were randomized to receive 100 or 250 micrograms octreotide subcutaneously every 8 hours for 6 months. RESULTS: After 2 weeks of treatment, a single 100-micrograms injection reduced mean serum growth hormone (GH) to 30% of the pretreatment concentration within 2 hours. The integrated mean GH level was reduced over 8 hours from 39 +/- 11 micrograms/L to 9 +/- 2 micrograms/L (P less than 0.001). Mean plasma insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) was reduced from 5100 +/- 400 U/L to 2400 +/- 400 U/L (P less than 0.001). After 6 months, the mean GH was reduced from 39 +/- 13 to 15 +/- 4 micrograms/L by 300 micrograms of octreotide and from 29 +/- 5 micrograms/L to 9 +/- 2 micrograms/L by 750 micrograms of octreotide daily. The mean IGF-1 concentration was suppressed to 2100 +/- 300 and 2500 +/- 400 U/L after 300 and 750 micrograms octreotide, respectively. Integrated mean GH levels were reduced to < 5 micrograms/L in 53% (95% CI, 39% to 67%) and 49% (CI, 35% to 63%), and IGF-1 levels were normal in 68% (CI, 54% to 82%) and 55% (CI, 40% to 70%) of patients receiving low- and high-dose octreotide, respectively. A substantial decrease in headache, amount of perspiration, joint pain, and finger circumference occurred in two thirds of the patients. The pituitary size was reduced in 19% (CI, 5% to 33%) and 37% (CI, 22% to 52%) of patients receiving 6 months of low- and high-dose octreotide, respectively. Ten percent and 13% of patients in each treatment group developed transient diarrhea; 10% and 14%, biliary sludge; and 6% and 18%, cholelithiasis, respectively. CONCLUSION: Octreotide effectively decreased GH and IGF-1 concentrations in 53% and 68% of patients, respectively. The higher dose resulted in increased frequency of tumor shrinkage but added no biochemical or clinical benefit.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1999

Acromegaly and intestinal neoplasms.

Acromegalic subjects show increased frequency of neoplastic lesions in the colon and rectum with respect to the general population. Recent prospective studies using colonoscopy have shown a 3 time higher prevalence of intestinal polyps and up to 4 time increased presence of colorectal cancer in acromegaly, independently of sex, age, duration of disease and clinical status of the patients. The polyps are distributed throughout the extension of the large bowel and are often multiple, showing at least two different histologic types: hyperplastic and adenomatous. Sometimes they are associated with intestinal carcinomas. Pancolonoscopy is the procedure of choice for the diagnosis of large bowel neoplasms, even though it may be difficult to complete in these subjects because of the frequent presence of an enlarged and elongated colon. It shows a higher sensitivity and specificity compared to other tests such as the barium enema, fecal occult blood test and serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen. Therefore, it is recommended to follow up acromegalic patients using pancolonoscopy to obtain early detection of neoplastic lesions in the large bowel.

Acromegaly↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Cephalometric changes in acromegaly].

Acromegaly represents the endocrine disease which includes the somatic and metabolic disorders secondly resulting to the augmentation of the Growth Hormone secretion after the growth cartilages closing (in adult). In this case we can find very important troubles which characterize all the specific elements of the stomatognathic system. The cranio-facial skeleton has a specific configuration, the mandible is developed in excess and the relationships between the maxilla, the mandible and the skull are strongly modified. These and the structural bony troubles, the bony asymmetries involve periodontal, muscular and articular disturbances. In this study we want to describe the craniofacial cephalometric qualitative and quantitative disorders and to emphasize their implications in the onset and the evolution of the stomatognathic system dysfunctional syndrome.

Acromegaly↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[A statistical analysis of the variation in the cephalometric measures of acromegaly patients].

Acromegaly represents the endocrine disease which includes the somatic and metabolic disorders secondly resulting to the augmentation of the Growth Hormone secretion after the growth cartilages closing (in adult). In this study we want to describe the craniofacial cephalometric qualitative and quantitative disorders and to emphasize their implications in the onset and the evolution of the stomatognathic system dysfunctional syndrome. For proving this things, we made a statistical study using a statistics function named "standard deviation" which is a measure of how widely values are dispersed from the average value.

Acromegaly↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Acromegaly and intestinal neoplasms.

Acromegalic subjects show increased frequency of neoplastic lesions in the colon and rectum with respect to the general population. Recent prospective studies using colonoscopy have shown a 3 time higher prevalence of intestinal polyps and up to 4 time increased presence of colorectal cancer in acromegaly, independently of sex, age, duration of disease and clinical status of the patients. The polyps are distributed throughout the extension of the large bowel and are often multiple, showing at least two different histologic types: hyperplastic and adenomatous. Sometimes they are associated with intestinal carcinomas. Pancolonoscopy is the procedure of choice for the diagnosis of large bowel neoplasms, even though it may be difficult to complete in these subjects because of the frequent presence of an enlarged and elongated colon. It shows a higher sensitivity and specificity compared to other tests such as the barium enema, fecal occult blood test and serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen. Therefore, it is recommended to follow up acromegalic patients using pancolonoscopy to obtain early detection of neoplastic lesions in the large bowel.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1975

[Clinical and biochemical findings of acromegaly patients (author's transl)].

In 32 cases of acromegaly growth hormone analyses in serum were carried out by means of intra venous dosing of glucose (hyperglycemia suppression test). Both in individual cases and collectively the growth hormone concentrations fluctuate considerably. 19 patients had average concentrations of 10 to 30, 5 of 30 to 70, 4 of more than 100 and 3 patients of 5 to 10 ng/ml. The level of the pathological growth hormone concentrations doesn't correlate with the presumable duration of the affection, the glucose tolerance and the extension of the acromegalic alterations. 5 patients showed an euthyroid recidiv goiter, 4 patients a hypothyroid goiter, 2 of these patients at the same time showed a secondary hypoadrenalism and 3 patients an autonomous thyroid adenoma. The eosinophilic hypophysis tumors were mostly intrasellar. 4 patients out of 5 with suprasellar tumor distension showed an optic chiasm syndrome.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed2000

[Multihormonal and multifunctional hypophyseal adenoma and the acromegaly syndrome].

Woman 75-year-old treated 30 years for syndrome of acromegaly refused pituitary surgery and irradiation. Five years and nine months before death she had a colon carcinoma successfully removed. Multinodular hyperfunctional goitre was treated with carbimazole. For six last years of life corticosteroids were given as a replacement therapy. Her cause of death was the heart failure due to acromegalic heart disease. In autopsy a large intrasellar and extrasellar pituitary adenoma without rests of nonneoplastic tissue was found. Nevertheless the target peripheral endocrine glands except ovaries, were not atrophic. A multinodular goitre and diffuse adrenocortical hyperplasia were revealed. Histology, and immunohistochemistry demonstrated that mot neoplastic cells were producing GH and ACTH, dispersly Prl, scattered cells were positive for beta-subunit of FSH, LH, TSH. Electron microscopy proved most of the cells to be densely granulated. We classify the adenoma according to the newly proposed WHO pituitary tumours classification (1) as plurihormonal, hyperfunctional, extrasellar, typical adenoma from densely granulated cells. We conclude that in plurihormonal adenomas with dominant (in the case referred acromegalic) symptomatology the additional hormonal production should be monitored as a possible source of important complications.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1975

[Therapy of acromegaly using bromocriptine].

Oral administration of 1.0 or 2.5 mg bromocriptine (CB 154: 2-brom-alpha-ergocryptine) in nine of twelve patients with active acromegaly resulted in a reduction of growth hormone level by 80-90% over 8-10 hours. During treatment for 2-9 months with daily doses of 4.0 to 10.0 mg bromocriptine, there was a sustained reduction of growth hormone levels in these patients. At the same time soft-tissue swellings and tendency towards sweating decreased. In two patients with diabetes mellitus the blood sugar profile improved and in one of them the insulin dose could be markedly reduced. The rise in growth hormone levels after TRH administration also occurred during bromocriptine treatment. In those patients in whom growth hormone levels failed to react to either acute or chronic administration of bromocriptine no rise followed TRH administration. It is possible that in these patients there is a hypophyseal adenoma without hypothalamic control. On gradually increasing dosage bromocriptine was tolerated without side effects.

Acromegaly↗