title: Assessment of sleep apnea syndrome in treated acromegalic patients and correlation of its severity with clinical and laboratory parameters.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is a frequent disorder in acromegalic patients and its frequency ranges from 45 to 87.5% of patients. Obstructive SAS is the prevailing form in acromegaly and its pathogenesis is based on craniofacial deformations and thickening of soft tissues and mucosas of upper airways and bronchi. Central and mixed types are less frequent. Respiratory complications, and SAS in particular, may contribute to the increased mortality observed in acromegaly.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Aim of the present study is to assess the presence of SAS in acromegalic patients, its features and to correlate the severity of SAS with factors such as disease duration, body mass index (BMI), smoking, GH/IGF-I serum levels, associated comorbidities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Polygraphy (SOMNOcheck Effort Weinmann V2.05) was performed in 25 consecutive acromegalic patients (9 men and 16 women). Statistical analysis was performed with Mann-Whitney's test and Spearman coefficient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fourteen out of 25 patients (56%) were affected by SAS. The prevailing form was obstructive SAS (12/14 patients). Smoking, female gender, and presence of lung disease appear to lead to a more severe form. We also found that the prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher in the group of patients with SAS, whereas no correlation was proved among SAS and disease duration, GH/IGF-I serum levels, somatostatin analogs treatment, BMI, and associated comorbidities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SAS is a frequent complication of acromegaly. Severe forms seem to be correlated with smoking and lung disease. Therefore, all acromegalic patients should be subjected to a polygraphic study for an early diagnosis and treatment and smoking should be discouraged.
authors: Endocrine Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Viale Pieraccini, 6-50139 Florence, Italy.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Vannucci
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Luciani
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Gagliardi
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Paiano
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Duranti
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Forti
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Peri
mesh_terms: D000172:Acromegaly / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007755:Laboratories, Hospital; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*