Clinical manifestations of acromegaly.

Acromegaly is an uncommon disorder and may present in a variety of ways, leading to considerable delay in diagnosis. Unlike other pituitary tumors, tumors associated with acromegaly tend to be fairly large in most patients. Thus, symptoms may be commonly due to the tumor mass as well as to hormone oversecretion. Mortality is two- to threefold increased due to cardiovascular, respiratory, and neoplastic causes. An increase in diabetes mellitus and hypertension may contribute to the first of these. Early treatment may reverse the diabetes, soft tissue changes, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease, and neuromuscular disease. The effect of early treatment on neoplasia is unclear, and patients probably should continue to be screened, especially for colon neoplasia, even after appropriate therapy for the acromegaly. Hypopituitarism may be present initially as a result of tumor mass but may also develop as a result of ablative therapy.