Elevated growth hormone levels had a negative impact on remission in acromegaly patients undergoing transsphenoidal adenomectomies, researchers from Emory University in Atlanta concluded after a retrospective, multivariate analysis of case studies.
To determine the impact of preoperative growth hormone (GH), Dr. Jeremy Anthony and his associates examined the case files of 79 acromegaly patients who underwent transsphenoidal adenomectomy between 1994 and 2013 at Emory and assigned them to two groups on the basis of their preoperative GH levels, using 40 ng/mL as the cutoff.
Biochemical remission was defined as normal insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) during follow-up of more than 3 months in the absence of adjuvant therapy. The results were released at the annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists on May 15 in Las Vegas.
Group A, with preoperative GH levels greater than 40 ng/mL, comprised 19 patients with a mean age of 43 years and an average follow-up of 38 months. They had larger, more invasive tumors, higher preoperative IGF-1 levels, higher immediate postoperative GH, and more residual tumors at 3 months, compared with the 60 patients in group B, who had preop GH levels of 40 ng/mL or less, a mean age of 47 years, and 43 months of follow-up.
In group A, three patients (15%) had remission at 3 months, but two patients had recurrence within 2 years. In group B, 35 patients (58%) had remission at 3 months with no recurrence during follow-up.
On univariate analysis, lower preoperative GH was a predictor of remission. In a multivariate analysis, however, lack of cavernous sinus invasion was the only predictor of remission.
"The relationship of GH elevation and cavernous sinus invasion should be further defined, as should the molecular fingerprint and the potential role of preoperative medical treatment in this group of patients," Dr. Anthony and his associates wrote.
No disclosures were reported.