A new NIH study in the New England Journal of Medicine says researchers from the National Institutes of Health have identified genetic mutations that cause acromegaly. The study also illuminates the role genes play in the childhood form, called gigantism. Read more from the article on GenomeWeb here. Read MedPageToday's take on it here.
A new study that followed the health of acromegaly patients who had surgery at a hospital in Turkey over a 20 year period reported less-than-ideal results. The report concludes, "The rate of surgical success in our patients was found to be low. This could be explained by an absence of experienced pituitary surgical centers or surgeons in our region, and the fact that most patients presented late at the macroadenoma stage." To read more, click here.
Touch Endocrinology published an article about the Quality of Life for pituitary patients. We have included part of the information here, to read the full article click here.
Iris Crespo, Alicia Santos, Eugenia Resmini, Elena Valassi, Maria Antonia Martínez-Momblán, Susan M Webb
US Endocrinology, 2014;10(1):79–83
Abstract: Evaluation of health-related quality of life (QoL) in people with pituitary tumours has received much attention over the last 10–15 years. Most of them show impaired QoL, but little is known about how to prevent impairment or how to improve QoL. Our aim is to review what is known about QoL in pituitary tumours patients and to highlight the areas worth improving, for the patient's well being. The article has four sections: acromegaly, Cushing's syndrome, prolactinomas and non-functioning adenomas. Control of comorbidities is usually an important factor to prevent QoL impairment; however, each disease has specific characteristics that should be properly addressed in order to obtain full patient recovery after successful therapy.
Press Release issued by the Endocrine Society detailing their guidelines for treatment of acromegaly. Click here to go to original article.
Washington, DC—The Endocrine Society today issued a Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for the diagnosis and treatment of acromegaly, a rare condition caused by excess growth hormone in the blood.
The CPG, entitled "Acromegaly: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline," appeared in the November 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of the Endocrine Society.