title: Characteristics of acromegaly in Korea with a literature review.
abstract: Acromegaly is a slowly progressive disease caused by excessive growth hormone (GH), which is related to a GH secreting pituitary tumor in most cases. Herein, we describe the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and treatment of acromegaly in Korea with a literature review. The average annual incidence of acromegaly in Korea was 3.9 cases per million people, which was within the range of previous Western studies. The primary treatment for acromegaly was also transsphenoidal adenomectomy, which accounted for 90.4% of patients whose primary therapeutic options were known. The overall surgical remission rates were 89%, 87%, 64%, 70%, and 50% for modified Hardy classification I, II, IIIA, IIIB, and IV, respectively. An updated and larger study regarding the treatment outcome of medical/radiotherapy in Korean acromegalic patients is needed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Cheol Ryong
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Ku
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Jig
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Acromegaly; Growth hormone; Pituitary neoplasms