Diabetic retinopathy in acromegaly

INTRODUCTION: Although growth hormone (GH) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR), DR is deemed to be rare in patients with GH excess. Our aim was to study its prevalence in subjects with acromegaly suffering from diabetes mellitus (DM), to analyze its characteristics, and to look for predictive factors such as age at diagnosis, GH concentration and duration, DM duration, DM control, and family background. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients with acromegaly and DM (21 males, 19 females), median age = 50 years, underwent a systematic ophthalmological examination with dilated funduscopy to seek diabetic retinopathy. RESULTS: Among this population, 05 (12.5%) had DR. It was at an early stage or background retinopathy in 3 cases and at a more advanced stage or proliferative retinopathy in 2 cases. We did not find any correlation with age at diagnosis, GH levels and duration, DM duration and family history of DM, but poor glycemic control seems to play a role although statistical analysis showed borderline significance. CONCLUSION: From this study, we conclude that prevalence of DR in patients with acromegaly is 12.5%, and it is slight or moderate. Among studied factors, only poor glycemic control seems to be implicated in its development.