Acromegaly

• acromegaly is a disorder caused by oversecretion of growth hormone and this oversecretion of GH is usually due to a pituitary adenoma
• primary therapy for acromegaly is transsphenoidal adenomectomy (tumor removal of pituitary)
• after transsphenoidal adenomectomy we need to do radiotherapy.
• in other situations medical theraphy is needed: 1)somatostatin analogs. 2)growth-hormone receptor antagonists
• we can diagnose acromegaly when there is an increase in levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 and increase in GH.
• MRI can confirm the presence of pituitary tumor
• this excessive release of growth hormone from anterior pituitary gland lead to continuous growth of extremeties like large hands,feet and face in adults
• in children excessive growth hormone cause gigantism
• excessive growth hormone stimulates organs growth and increases insulin resistance-that leads to an increase in blood insulin levels
• causes of acromegaly include: 1)pituitary adenoma-benign. 2)ectopic production from lung cancers. 3)hypothalamic tumors. 4)MEN1-wermer syndrome-where there is slow growth rate and rapid aging but they have large hands and face
• symptoms of acromegaly include: 1)growth of bones of hands,feet and lower jaw,2)protrusion of forehead,3)soft tissues of hands,feet,face and tongue are swelling,4)increased size of organs 5)excessive sweating.
• complications of acromegaly include: 1)carpal tunnel syndrome-where hands are numb and tingling. 2)Dm 3)CHF-due to enlarge heart organ 4)gastrointestinal cancers from colon polyps outgrowing in to large intestine