The common consensus criteria have high predictive values for long-term postoperative acromegaly remission.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this work was to retrospectively study the long-term reliability of the common consensus endocrinological criteria for the assessment of postoperative remission of acromegaly.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In 96 consecutive patients, surgical remission of acromegaly following transsphenoidal surgery was considered to be present when, without adjuvant treatment, 3 months postoperatively there was no clinical evidence of persisting disease, and, according to the common consensus criteria for acromegaly remission, GH was suppressed to < 1 μg/l during the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) was within normal limits. The results of the second postoperative week, 3 months postoperative, and the most recent follow-up OGTT and IGF-1 measurements were used to calculate the positive and negative predictive values of the following endocrinological criteria of acromegaly remission: the common consensus criteria for acromegaly remission, GH suppression to < 1 μg/l during OGTT and IGF-1 within normal limits. Sensitive IRMA (≤ 0.3 μg/l) and RIA (≤ 32 μg/l) assays for GH and IGF-1 were used.

RESULTS

The surgical remission rate of acromegaly was 72.9%. At a median follow-up of 5.06 years, the recurrence rate of acromegaly was 2.08%. Overall, the common consensus criteria for acromegaly remission were the most reliable tests, with the following positive and negative predictive values at 2 weeks postoperatively, 3 months postoperatively and at the most recent follow-up: 68%, 100% and 100%, and 98%, 100% and 100%, respectively. The negative likelihood ratio confirmed that the test qualities of the common consensus criteria for acromegaly remission were superior to the other tests.

CONCLUSIONS

The common consensus criteria were the most reliable tests for the diagnosis of postoperative acromegaly remission. The positive and negative predictive values of the common consensus criteria for acromegaly remission increased from the second postoperative week to 3 months postoperatively, thereafter reliably indicating the long-term results of transsphenoidal surgery.