Cardiac Findings on Non-Contrast Thoracic Tomography in Patients with Acromegaly

Abstract

Aim: Acromegaly occurs as a result of excessive and permanent secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary. Mortality is mostly related to cardiovascular system involvement. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the correlation between epicardial fat volume (EFV) and growth hormone level in thorax computed tomography in patients with acromegaly and coronary artery calcification, pulmonary artery diameter, ascending aorta diameter, cardiothoracic ratio (CTO) measurements with the control group patients.
 Method: Our study was retrospective and included 16 patients with acromegaly who were previously diagnosed and treated by the endocrinology clinic and a control group consisting of 32 patients matched for gender and age.In thorax CT, EFV measurement of the patients was performed and main pulmonary artery diameters, ascending aorta diameters, cardio thoracic ratios, presence of coronary artery calcification were evaluated.
 Results: The number of patients with large ascending aorta was higher in patients with acromegaly and it was statistically significant (p=0.041). Although the rate of patients with large main pulmonary artery diameter was higher in patients with acromegaly, no significant difference was found between the groups (p=0.355). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of increased CTO (p=0.818) and coronary artery calcification (p=0.157).
 Conclusion: In our study, a difference was found between the acromegaly and control group patients only in terms of ascending aorta diameters, but no significant difference was found in terms of other parameters. We think that regular follow-up and treatment of patients is effective in this result. Cardiovascular risks can be reduced in patients with acromegaly with early diagnosis, regular follow-up and treatment.