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Cardiovascular risk factors in patients with uncontrolled and long-term acromegaly: comparison with matched data from

Christian Berg1, Stephan Petersenn, Harald Lahner

  • 1Department of Endocrinology, Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry, and Epidemiology, West-German Heart Centre Essen, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Department of Endocrinology, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45122 Essen, Germany. christian.berg@uni-essen.de

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
|May 14, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Acromegaly patients show higher cardiovascular risk factors and Framingham Risk Score (FRS). Effective disease control, especially IGF-I normalization, significantly reduces FRS and coronary heart disease risk.

Area of Science:

  • Endocrinology
  • Cardiology
  • Metabolic Disorders

Background:

  • Cardiovascular risk data in acromegaly are limited.
  • A clear correlation to epidemiological data is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Evaluate cardiovascular risk factors in active acromegaly patients.
  • Calculate Framingham Risk Score (FRS) against matched controls.
  • Assess the impact of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I) normalization.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective, comparative study at a university referral center.
  • 133 acromegaly patients matched with 665 general population controls.
  • Risk factors measured at baseline and after 12 months of pegvisomant treatment.

Main Results:

  • Acromegaly patients exhibited increased hypertension, blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, and glycosylated hemoglobin.
  • Lower levels of HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol were observed in acromegaly patients.
  • FRS was significantly higher in acromegaly patients; treatment reduced BP, glycosylated hemoglobin, and FRS.

Conclusions:

  • Acromegalic patients have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors.
  • Controlling acromegaly significantly decreases FRS, reducing coronary heart disease risk.
  • Complete IGF-I normalization yields the most significant risk reduction.
Abstract

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