Title: An audit of long‐term octreotide therapy for acromegaly
Abstract: Abstract Background: Octreotide has been successfully used for the treatment of acromegaly, but little long‐term data are available. Aims: To determine the long‐term efficacy and safety of octreotide in the treatment of acromegaly. Methods: Twenty‐seven patients with acromegaly were treated with octreotide in a non randomised study. Six patients had not had previous surgery or radiotherapy, and were treated with octreotide alone. Symptoms of acromegaly, IGF‐I levels, growth hormone suppression by glucose, pituitary tumour size, and side effects were monitored. The median duration of treatment was 44 months (range six‐102). Results: Symptom control was excellent. Twenty (74%) patients had a reduction of IGF‐I into the normal range. IGF‐I levels fell after one year from 94.2±6.1 nmol/L (mean±SEM) to 50.0±2.7 nmol/L ( p <0.0001). Ten of 13 (77%) patients had normal IGF‐I levels after four years. These reductions have persisted for up to nine years of octreotide therapy. The GH response to glucose was normalised in 14 of 16 (88%) subjects. Eleven of 25 (44%) patients had a reduction in pituitary gland height. Side effects were common, but usually of a minor nature. Cholelithiasis occurred in 39% of patients. Two patients ceased octreotide because of side effects. Conclusions: We conclude that octreotide is an effective and safe long‐term treatment for acromegaly. It is a useful adjunct to surgery, and may be offered as sole therapy for patients with smaller adenomas.
Publication Year: 1997
Publication Date: 1997-02-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
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Cited By Count: 11
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