Treatment of elderly acromegalics.
We assessed the incidence of elderly patients in Japanese acromegalics and the characteristics of their clinical presentation. We also evaluated the safety and efficacy of transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) in this patient group. During the 28-year period from 1980 to 2007 we treated 290 patients with acromegaly at our hospitals. Of these, 9 (3.1%) were elderly, i.e. 70 years old or older. They comprised 0.7% of acromegalics treated during the first- and 4.5% of patients with acromegaly treated during the 2nd 14-year period. Before treatment, all manifested abnormal glucose tolerance; 6 had diabetes mellitus (DM), 6 presented with hypertension, and 2 had cardiovascular disease, malignant neoplasms, or hyperlipidemia. Of the 7 elderly acromegalics who underwent TSS none manifested surgical morbidity or new pituitary hormone deficiencies. Postoperatively, the nadir growth hormone (GH) level at the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was under 1.0 ng/mL in 5 patients, insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) levels normalized in 4. Glucose tolerance improved in all operated patients. Only 1 of 6 patients with preoperatively diagnosed DM continued to manifest DM post-treatment, anti-hypertensive drugs could be tapered in 3 of patients with preoperative hypertension. In conclusion, we found that there was a high incidence of abnormal glucose tolerance and hypertension in elderly acromegalics, that surgical treatment was effective and safe in this population, and that it was useful for the control of co-morbidities.
Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Japan.
Kazunori
K
Arita
Hirofumi
H
Hirano
Shunji
S
Yunoue
Shingo
S
Fujio
Atsushi
A
Tominaga
Tetsuhiko
T
Sakoguchi
Kazuhiko
K
Sugiyama
Kaoru
K
Kurisu
D000172:Acromegaly / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I