Endocrinol Metab.  2025 Feb;40(1):1-9. 10.3803/EnM.2024.2285.

Long-Term Prognosis and Systemic Impact of Acromegaly: Analyses Utilizing Korean National Health Insurance Data

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Guri, Korea
  • 2Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea
  • 3Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Acromegaly is a rare endocrine disorder caused by excessive growth hormone secretion. Its low prevalence poses challenges in studying its long-term prognosis and systemic effects. To address this research gap, we conducted five studies using nationwide cohort data from the Korean National Health Insurance Database (NHID). This review consolidates the findings of these studies, which examined various long-term effects of acromegaly. The results demonstrated significant associations between acromegaly and increased mortality, a higher prevalence of mortality, cardiovascular outcomes, neurodegenerative diseases, depression, end-stage kidney disease, respiratory complications, specifically bronchiectasis, spine & hip fracture, and malignancy. These findings highlight the critical need for early diagnosis, comprehensive care, and long-term monitoring, and underscore the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in managing acromegaly.

Keyword

Acromegaly; Atrial fibrillation; Bronchiectasis; Dementia; Depression; Kidney failure, chronic; Heart failure; Mortality; Parkinson disease

Figure

  • Fig. 1. Systemic effects of acromegaly based on studies using Korean National Health Insurance Data. IGF-1, insulin-like growth factor-1.


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