Acromegaly : irreversible clinical consequences

Wassenaar, M.J.E. (2010)

Doctoral Thesis

This thesis describes the long-term consequences of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor I excess in patients cured from acromegaly for a mean duration of 17 years. Regarding the considerable prevalence of diverse morbidity in these patients, during the active phase of the disease but even more so after 17 years of disease cure, we suggest the screening of acromegalic patients on highly frequent comorbidities, such as osteoarthritis, vertebral fractures, colonic polyps, and colonic diverticulae. It is of great concern to recognize the long-term consequences of the disease in order to offer the patients adequate follow-up and multidisciplinary care. The aim should be to control the persisting complex morbidity as much as possible in order to prevent the patients from a further decrease in quality of life. The patients__ physician as well as the patient itself should be aware of the long-term consequences of acromegaly in order to eliminate surreal expectations concerning recovery of certain comorbidities.

• Acromegaly
• Arthropathy
• Bone mineral density
• D3GHR polymorphism
• Diverticular disease
• Growth hormone
• Insulin-like growth factor type I
• Joint space
• Osteoarthritis
• Quality of life
• Vertebral fractures

• All authors: Wassenaar, M.J.E.
• Supervisor: Romijn, J.A.
• Co-supervisor: Biermasz, N.R.; Kloppenburg, M.; Pereira, A.M.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden University
• Date: 2010-06-10
• ISBN (print): 9789088911705
• Sponsorship: Novartis, Novo nordisk, Sandoz, Pfizer, Ipsen, Genzyme, Astra Zeneca, Ferring, Zambon, Tramedico