Pregnancy and acromegaly: Clinical outcomes of retrospectively analysed data from the German Acromegaly Registry

Anke Tonjes; Marleen Wurfel; Marcus Quinkler; Ulrich Knappe; Jurgen Honegger; Nina Krause.Joppig; Konrad Bacher; Jochen Schopohl; Sylvere Stormann; Sebastian Meyhofer

doi:10.1530/endoabs.99.RC9.5

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Endocrine Abstracts (2024) 99 RC9.5 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.99.RC9.5

ECE2024 Rapid Communications Rapid Communications 9: Pituitary and Neuroendocrinology | Part II (7 abstracts)

Pregnancy and acromegaly: Clinical outcomes of retrospectively analysed data from the German Acromegaly Registry

Anke Tönjes ¹ , Marleen Würfel ¹ , Marcus Quinkler ² , Ulrich Knappe ³ , Jürgen Honegger ⁴ , Nina Krause.Joppig ⁵ , Konrad Bacher ⁶ , Jochen Schopohl ⁷ , Sylvère Störmann ⁷ & Sebastian Meyhöfer ⁸

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Author affiliations

¹University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany; ²Endocrinology in Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany; ³Department of Neurosurgery, Johannes Wesling Hospital, Minden, Germany; ⁴University of Tübingen, Department of Neurosurgery, Tübingen, Germany; ⁵ENDOKRINOLOGIKUM Hannover, Hannover, Germany; ⁶Practice for Endocrinology and Diabetes, Stuttgart, Germany; ⁷Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV, LMU Klinikum, München, Germany; ⁸Institute of Endocrinology and Diabetes, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

Context: Acromegaly is a rare disease caused by excessive growth hormone (GH) secretion, mostly induced by pituitary adenomas. The care of pregnant women with acromegaly is challenging, in part due to existing clinical data being limited and not entirely consistent with regard to potential risks for mother and child.

Objective: To retrospectively examine data on pregnancy and maternal as well as neonatal outcomes in patients with acromegaly.

Design and Methods: Retrospective data analysis from 47 pregnancies of 31 women treated in centers of the German Acromegaly Registry.

Results: 87.1% of the studied women underwent transsphenoidal surgery before pregnancy. In 51.1% a combination of dopamine agonists and somatostatin analogs were used before pregnancy. Three women did not receive any therapy for acromegaly. During pregnancy only 6.4% received either somatostatin analogs or dopamine agonists. In total, 70.2% of all documented pregnancies emerged spontaneously. Gestational diabetes was diagnosed in 10.6% and gravid hypertension in 6.4%. Overall, no preterm birth was detected. Indeed, 87% of acromegalic women experienced a delivery without complications.

Conclusion: Pregnancies in women with acromegaly are possible and the course of pregnancy is in general safe for mother and child both with and without specific treatment for acromegaly. The prevalence of concomitant metabolic diseases such as gestational diabetes is comparable to the prevalence in healthy pregnant women. Nevertheless, larger studies with more data in pregnant patients with acromegaly are needed to provide safe and effective care for pregnant women with this condition.