60 YEARS OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY: Acromegaly.

Growth hormones and growth factors in acromegaly and beyond. Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Highlights in Basic and Clinical Neuroendocrinology. November 4-5, 2005. Athens, Greece.

[Recommendations of Neuroendocrinology Department from Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism for diagnosis and treatment of acromegaly in Brazil].

Acromegaly is a disease associated with increased morbidity and reduced life expectancy. Because of its insidious character and its non-recognition, the diagnosis is often made with delay, which, along with the complications related to GH/IGF-I excess, determines high morbidity and mortality. However, an early diagnosis and an effective treatment reduce the morbidity and normalize the mortality...

The cost of medical care for the acromegalic patient.

Despite ample proof to the contrary, the overwhelming number of health care practitioners still believe that acromegaly is a disease that they will rarely encounter, let alone have to treat. However, the reality is quite a bit different for both doctors and patients. Many of the obvious symptoms and signs of this disease manifest slowly and insidiously. As such, the majority of patients are oft...

Long-Term Remission of Acromegaly after Octreotide Withdrawal Is an Uncommon and Frequently Unsustainable Event.

BACKGROUND Long-term remission of acromegaly after somatostatin analog withdrawal has been reported in 18-42% of patients in studies with a relatively small number of patients using different inclusion and remission criteria. The objectives of this study were to establish the probability and predictive factors for short- and long-term remission [normal IGF-1 for age/sex: IGF-1 ≤1.00 × upper lim...

Body Image Perception in Acromegaly Is Not Associated with Objective Acromegalic Changes but Depends on Depressive Symptoms.

OBJECTIVE Diagnosis of acromegaly is delayed up to 10 years after disease onset despite obvious external/objective changes such as bone and soft tissue deformities. We hypothesized that a lack of subjective perception of the disease state, possibly mediated by psychiatric or cognitive alterations, might contribute to the delayed initiation of a diagnostic workup. DESIGN Cross-sectional study....