Acromegaly

Acromegaly is mainly caused by excessive secretion of growth hormone (GH) from a pituitary GH adenoma or hyperplasia of pituitary GH cells. Persistent hypersecretion of GH causes gigantism before epiphyseal closure and acromegaly after epiphyseal closure. Acromegaly has an insidious onset and slow progression, characterized by hyperplasia and hypertrophy of bones, soft tissues, and viscera, manifesting as facial changes, enlargement of the ends of hands and feet, thickening of the skin, visceral enlargement, and osteoarthropathy. Diagnosis and treatment of this disease are often delayed. Pituitary tumor compression symptoms, diabetes mellitus, and diabetes complicated by infection, hypertension, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and an increased incidence of malignant tumors such as colon cancer, seriously affect the health and quality of life of patients and shorten their lifespan. Patients with acromegaly have an insidious onset and slow progression; in half of the patients, the disease course at diagnosis is more than 5 years, and the longest can exceed 30 years. The clinical manifestations of patients mainly depend on the size of the pituitary tumor itself, the rate of growth, the status of growth hormone secretion, and the effect of compression on normal pituitary tissue. The main manifestations include local compression by the pituitary tumor and excessive GH secretion. The diagnosis of acromegaly is not difficult; a detailed medical history and physical examination are the basic basis for diagnosis, and laboratory tests and special examinations are helpful in confirming the diagnosis of difficult cases. However, due to the insidious onset and slow progression of the disease, and insufficient awareness of the disease among both doctors and patients, doctors often fail to detect and diagnose the disease early, delaying diagnosis and treatment. Some patients with acromegaly often only realize the need to seek medical attention when obvious symptoms and signs appear, or even in the late stage of chronic complications (such as diabetes, hypertension, myocardial hypertrophy, etc.).