Acromegaly update--etiology, diagnosis and management.

Overview

Acromegaly is a disease with unique clinical manifestations. Its confirmatory diagnosis, however, requires basal and dynamic tests of growth hormone secretion. The measurement of circulating levels of somatomedin C has been a valuable addition to the diagnostic armamentarium. We review the etiology of acromegaly, with particular reference to the different histochemical and ultrastructural forms of somatotropic adenomas and their respective clinical behaviors. Ectopic sources of growth hormone-releasing hormone and of growth hormone itself are now well-recognized, though unusual, causes of acromegaly. The treatment of acromegaly is often problematic and far from uniformly successful. Initial enthusiasm for the results of surgical treatment has now been tempered by reports of increasing rates of recurrence on long-term follow-up. The roles of irradiation and pharmacotherapy are reviewed with particular emphasis on the use of bromocriptine, which has added a new dimension to the control of the somatic and metabolic manifestations of hypersomatotropism. Studies have been done recently using a long-acting somatostatin analog with encouraging results.