Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Acromegaly is an endocrinopathy that affects many different organ systems and leads to multiple comorbidities. Data on morphologic pathology of kidneys in acromegaly is scarce.

Methods: We investigated 19 acromegalic patients (11 male, mean age 57.8±12.1 years) presenting in our outpatient clinic. We evaluated each patient’s kidneys by ultrasound, measuring organ dimensions and volume as well as noting any pathologic findings.

Results: With latest recommendations on criteria for cure acromegaly was considered biochemically controlled in seven patients. Equally, seven patients were partially controlled (IGF-I within 30% of the upper limit of normal). Mean duration of disease was 16.1±10.1 years. Renomegaly was found in three patients (16%). A total of 22 simple cysts were found in seven patients (37%), two patients (11%) presented with complex renal masses. Microscopic nephrocalcinosis was detected in five patients (26%), and one kidney stone (13 mm in size) in another patient. Furthermore, we found bilateral obstructive uropathy and one duplex kidney in one patient each. Overall, 17 patients (89%) presented with pathological or anomalous findings.

Conclusion: We found a high prevalence of pathological ultrasonographic findings in a sample of 19 acromegalic patients. Simple and complex renal cysts and nephrocalcinosis were more frequent than described in the literature for non-acromegalic patients. Further research is needed to better quantify our findings and to allow for sub-group analysis.