Long-term outcome and mortality after transsphenoidal adenomectomy for acromegaly

Acromegaly has long been associated with increased mortality but few long-term follow-up data are available in patients treated for this disease. We therefore studied a group of 103 patients who underwent transsphenoidal adenomectomy for acromegaly between 1970 and 1999 and were followed for one to 30 years.

A retrospective chart review was performed on 103 patients living in the province of Quebec, Canada. Mortality data were obtained by hospital charts, contact with the patient's family or death certificates. Stringent biochemical criteria were used to define remission (random GH < 2.5 microg/l, or GH nadir after an oral glucose load is < 1 microg/l and IGF-I within the normal range) and patient survival in the group in remission and the group with persistent disease were compared to survival of the population of Quebec, Canada, using the probabilities of the Poisson distribution.

There were four deaths in the perioperative period, one of which was directly related to surgery. Initial remission was obtained in 82% of microadenomas, 60% of macroadenomas and 24% of invasive adenomas. The long-term (> or = 10 years) remission rate for surgery alone was 52%. A second transsphenoidal surgery, radiation therapy and/or octreotide were used in a subset of patients with persistent disease. Long-term remission was obtained in 63% of patients. Five (mean age, 64 years) of the 57 patients in remission died; this rate did not differ significantly from the mortality rate expected in the general population (P = 0.18). Thirteen (mean age, 59.8 years) of the 34 patients with persistent disease died; this rate was significantly higher than that expected in the general population (P = 0.008).

Our observations confirm that uncontrolled acromegaly increases mortality compared to the general population and that mortality rates similar to the general population are restored once remission is induced.