Características de los pacientes con acromegalia atendidos en el Hospital de Especialidades José Carrasco Arteaga. Cuenca, 2014 - 2019

BACKGROUND: Acromegaly is a rare, slow-onset and insidious disease characterized by growth hormone hypersecretion, generally associated with the presence of a pituitary adenoma. In Ecuador, the information about the epidemiological characterization of acromegaly is limited. The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of the patients with acromegaly treated at Hospital de Especialidades José Carrasco Arteaga from January 1st, 2014 to December 31st, 2019. METHODS: This is an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. Data was collected from 88 electronic medical records of patients with a diagnosis of acromegaly treated during the aforementioned period. Statistical analysis was performed with PSPP 1.4.1 software. The results of qualitative variables are displayed in tables with numerical and percentage frequencies and for quantitative variables we obtained the mean and standard deviations. RESULTS: The male sex represented 55.7% of the population; the mean age at diagnosis was 43.27 years. Pituitary adenoma was registered in 83% of the cases. The accompanying symptoms were headache, visual field defects, and arthralgia in 18.2%, 27.3%, and 29.5% of the cases, respectively. 48.9% of cases received surgical treatment. The frequency of hypopituitarism was 38.6%. The frequency of comorbidities was: hypercholesterolemia (36.4%), arterial hypertension (29.5%), hypertriglyceridemia (22.7%), type 2 diabetes mellitus (22.7%) and ventricular hypertrophy (11.4%). CONCLUSION: The average age of patients with acromegaly was 52.60 years, the average age of diagnosis was 43.27 years, and it was more frequent in males. In 83% of the patients it was associated with the presence of pituitary adenoma. The most frequent comorbidity was hypercholesterolemia, in 36.4% of the patients. 48.9% of the patients received surgical treatment, 34.1% received combined treatment. 38.6% patients presented hypopituitarism; no cases of hyperprolactinemia were documented.