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Endocrine Abstracts (2016) 41 EP919 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.41.EP919

1Department of Endocrinology, Erciyes University Medical School, Kayseri, Turkey; 2Department of Neurology, Erciyes University Medical School, Kayseri, Turkey; 3Department of Cardiology, Erciyes University Medical School, Kayseri, Turkey.


Introduction: Acromegaly is known to be associated with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in about 60–70% of the cases. Both OSAS and acromegaly are thought to be responsible from cardiovascular diseases and endothelial dysfunction. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of OSAS on cardiovascular effects of acromegaly.

Materials and Methods: 25 patients with acromegaly and 7 healthy volunteers were enrolled into the study. Cardiac and endothelial functions were evaluated with echocardiography (ECHO), carotis intima-media thickness (CIMT), aortic stiffness and flow mediated dilatation (FMD). All subjects were performed polysomnography (PSG). Patients were categorized into 3 groups according to their apnea-hypopnea index (AHİ). AHİ of <5 was accepted as normal, >15 as OSAS and between 5-15 as borderline.

Results: 10 (40%) patients were found to have OSAS, 7 (28%) had borderline AHİ and 8 (32%) patients were normal. No differences were found between acromegaly and healthy controls in means of CIMT, aortic stiffness and ECHO parameters. FMD was found to be lower in acromegalic patients (8.9±4.7%) than in healthy controls (18.8±2.2%). FMD, CIMT, aortic stiffness and ECHO parameters were found to be similar in 3 acromegalic groups. No correlation was found between AHI and FMD, CIMT or aortic stiffness.

Conclusion: Acromegaly leads to endothelial dysfunction. Presence of OSAS in acromegalic patients does not seem to cause further deterioration of cardiovascular or endothelial functions.

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