METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study carried out from September 2016 to August 2017 at three tertiary hospitals in Northern Peninsular Malaysia.
RESULTS: A total of 62 patients were recruited, 83.9% of whom were male. The mean age was 29.2 with the median age of onset at 18 years old. The median duration of delay in diagnosis was 3 years. A quarter of them had positive family history. Nearly three-quarters were overweight and obese. About 12/62 (19.4%) had MetS, and it was comparable to healthy controls (15/62, 24.2%). HS patients had a significant higher risk of low-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and obesity. Based on Hurley staging, 15/62 (24.2%) were in stage I, 38/62 (61.3%) and 9/62 (14.5%) in stages II and III, respectively. However, sonographic scoring showed 50% had severe stage of disease, and 56.9% of the patients had subclinical lesions. There was only a fair agreement between ultrasonography and Hurley staging of disease severity (k = 0.25; P = 0.004).
CONCLUSION: There was a male preponderance among HS patients in Northern Peninsular Malaysia with early age of onset and more severe disease. Only one-fifth had MetS, but they had significantly higher risks of obesity and low HDL. Ultrasonography examination was useful to detect subclinical lesions and providing a better understanding on disease severity.
METHODOLOGY: This is a retrospective study that included patients from the Malaysian Acromegaly registry who were diagnosed with acromegaly from 1970 onwards. Data collected included patient demographics, clinical manifestations of acromegaly, biochemical results and imaging findings. Information regarding treatment modalities and their outcomes was also obtained.
RESULTS: Registry data was collected from 2013 to 2016 and included 140 patients with acromegaly from 12 participating hospitals. Median disease duration was 5.5 years (range 1.0 - 41.0 years). Most patients had macroadenoma (67%), while 15% were diagnosed with microadenoma. Hypertension (49.3%), diabetes (37.1%) and hypopituitarism (27.9%) were the most common co-morbidities for patients with acromegaly. Majority of patients had surgical intervention as primary treatment (65.9%) while 20.7% were treated medically, mainly with dopamine agonists (18.5%). Most patients had inadequate disease control after first-line treatment regardless of treatment modality (79.4%).
CONCLUSION: This registry study provides epidemiological data on patients with acromegaly in Malaysia and serves as an initial step for further population-based studies.