Endocrine Abstracts

Cabergoline (CB) is a potent, long-acting dopamine agonist licensed for the treatment of hyperprolactinaemia and, although unlicensed, is extensively used to treat acromegaly. There is a dearth of data on the use of CB in the treatment of acromegaly. We have performed a retrospective analysis of CB therapy in 34 [19 male, mean age 46 years (range 14-82)22 macroadenomas] patients with acromegaly treated since 1975. The patients were divided into two groups, those on CB as sole ...

We have previously reported comparisons of ACROQOL, a disease-specific questionnaire for QOL in patients with acromegaly, with the non-disease-specific generic tools Psychological General Well-Being Schedule (PGWBS) and EUROQOL and disease-specific signs and symptoms score (SSS). ACROQOL comprises 22 questions (subdivided into physical and psychological classes, total score out of 110 quoted as percentage, higher scores = better QOL). SSS rates 5 features of acromegaly each ra...

Advances in the treatment of acromegaly mean biochemical 'cure ' should be possible in the vast majority of patients. The challenge of the future will be designing treatment algorithms to optimise outcomes for individual patients, to ensure not only life expectancy but also QOL is normalised. QOL data is lacking in acromegaly, as is a disease-specific tool for measuring QOL. ACROQOL is a disease-specific QOL questionnaire compromising 22 questions (scored 1-5, high score good)...

We report the efficacy, safety, and effects on glucose homeostasis of converting patients with acromegaly from slow release octreotide (OT, treated for >3 months) to pegvisomant (Peg), a GH receptor antagonist. 52 patients (median age 49, range 23-81, 13 with diabetes) who had previously participated in a Peg clinical trial and subsequently treated with OT were enrolled in a 32-week, open-label, multicentre study. Peg 10 mg/d was started 4 weeks after the last dose of OT (w...

Pegvisomant is a novel medical therapy for acromegaly that functions as a GH receptor antagonist. Insulin resistance is an important factor in the increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with acromegaly. The aim of this study was to compare insulin sensitivity (IS) in a group of 7 patients with acromegaly (3 male, mean age 59+/-13 years, SD), treated first with a stable dose of depot octreotide (OT) (median dose 20mg four weekly, range 10-20) for at least t...