Davì Maria Vittoria, Giustina Andrea
a Clinic of Internal Medicine D, Department of Medicine, University of Verona, Italy.
b Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Brescia, Italy Endocrine Service, Montichiari Hospital, Via Ciotti 154, 25018 Montichiari, Brescia, Italy.
Expert Rev Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Jan;7(1):55-62. doi: 10.1586/eem.11.82.
Sleep apnea syndrome is a common complication of acromegaly with a negative impact on quality of life and survival. Obstructive sleep apnea is the prevailing form and is characterized by recurrent episodes of apnea and hypopnea owing to the total or partial collapse of the upper airways during sleep. The craniofacial deformations and the hypertrophy of upper airway soft tissue are responsible for its occurrence. Successful treatment of acromegaly can improve the severity of this complication, but can only seldom reverse it, particularly after a long time of active acromegaly. Thus, it is advisable to evaluate patients for sleep apnea syndrome at diagnosis and during treatment, and also when acromegaly is biochemically controlled. In selected cases, continuous positive airway pressure should be implemented to improve patient outcome.
睡眠呼吸暂停综合征是肢端肥大症的常见并发症，对生活质量和生存率有负面影响。阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停是主要形式，其特征是睡眠期间由于上呼吸道完全或部分塌陷而反复出现呼吸暂停和呼吸不足。颅面畸形和上呼吸道软组织肥大是其发生的原因。成功治疗肢端肥大症可改善该并发症的严重程度，但很少能使其逆转，尤其是在肢端肥大症长期活跃之后。因此，建议在诊断时、治疗期间以及肢端肥大症生化指标得到控制时对患者进行睡眠呼吸暂停综合征评估。在某些情况下，应实施持续气道正压通气以改善患者预后。
