Approach to the patient with persistent acromegaly after pituitary surgery

The approach to a patient with acromegaly and persistent disease after surgery requires a complex diagnostic assessment. Acromegaly is a chronic and insidious disease that is associated with multisystem comorbidities, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, sleep apnea syndrome, colon polyposis, arthropathy, and metabolic complications including glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Patients also have a variety of signs and symptoms, including headache, arthralgias, carpal tunnel syndrome, sweating, fatigue, and psychological issues that impact significantly on quality of life. The recommended approach to the evaluation of the postoperative patient includes a biochemical assessment, with measurement of serum IGF-I along with a glucose-suppressed GH value, radiological assessment to determine location of residual tumor and presence of mass effects, a physical examination for evidence of skeletal and soft tissue overgrowth and related signs of acromegaly, and a thorough clinical assessment for the presence of comorbidities. Repeat surgery is indicated if there is residual tumor that is surgically accessible and there may be a chance for surgical cure, or if there are persistent mass effects upon the optic chiasm. Otherwise, medical therapy is indicated, utilizing somatostatin analogs, dopamine agonists, and pegvisomant, a GH receptor antagonist. Radiation therapy is usually relegated to situations where medical therapy is ineffective or poorly tolerated or where patients would prefer not to sustain the cost of long-term medical therapy. The choice of therapy requires close dialog among endocrinologists, neurosurgeons, radiation therapists, and neuroophthalmologists for optimal care of patients.