Acromegaly: Clinical Care in Central and Eastern Europe, Israel, and Kazakhstan

Abstract

Acromegaly is a rare condition typically caused by benign pituitary adenomas, resulting in excessive production of growth hormone. Clinical manifestations of acromegaly are diverse, varying from the overgrowth of body tissue to cardiovascular, metabolic, and osteoarticular disorders. Symptoms may emerge slowly, overlapping with other diseases and often involve many different healthcare specialists. In the last decade, efforts to provide an accurate and timely diagnosis of acromegaly have improved disease management and clinical experience. Despite this progress, marked differences in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of acromegaly exist from country-to-country. To address these inconsistencies in the region comprising Central and Eastern Europe, Israel, and Kazakhstan, a panel of acromegaly experts from 13 of these countries was convened. Acromegaly experts from each country provided available information on the approaches from their country, including regional treatment centers and multidisciplinary teams, treatment access, reimbursement and availability, and physician education, disease awareness, and patient advocacy. Across several areas of acromegaly management, divergent approaches were identified and discussed, including the provision of multidisciplinary care, approved and available treatments, and disease awareness programs. These were recognized as areas of potential improvement in the management of acromegaly, in addition to participation in national and regional acromegaly registries. Further experience exchange will facilitate the identification of specific strategies that can be adapted in each country, and widespread participation in acromegaly registries will enable their evaluation. It is anticipated that this approach will support the optimization of acromegaly patient care across this region.

The potential utility of the SAGIT instrument in the clinical assessment of patients with acromegaly, a large single-centre study

“…Insulin resistance and the development of diabetes mellitus as a complication have been established in patients with acromegaly 22 , 23 . It has been recently reported, that 95% of patients with acromegaly suffer from comorbidities 24 . Therefore, the presence of associated comorbidities (A) in SAGIT is an advantage in assessing patients with acromegaly.…”

High mortality risk among women with acromegaly still persists

“…This observational retrospective study conducted in Department of Endocrinology I of the C. I. Parhon National Institute of Endocrinology, Romania, a tertiary referral endocrinology center included 399 consecutive patients diagnosed with acromegaly from all regions of the country (1000 estimated total number of patients with acromegaly diagnosed in Romania ( 13 )) between 1975–2022 and admitted between 01.01.2001 and 31.12.2022. The inclusion criteria were as follows: age > 18 years, diagnosis of acromegaly, and follow-up for at least one year.…”

Проблема Акромегалії В Україні. Створення Всеукраїнського Національного Реєстру Хворих На Акромегалію Та Аналіз Попередніх Даних

“…На сьогодні існують міжнародні рекомендації щодо діагностики та ведення хворих на акромегалію [1,2]. Однак відсутність доступної медичної допомоги (лабораторних та інструментальних обстежень, медикаментозних препаратів та інше) може бути причиною «невідповідності» реальної життєвої практики клінічним рекомендаціям [3,4].…”