Clinical-Epidemiological Peculiarities of the Acromegalic Osseous-Articular Complications in the Republic of Uzbekistan

The work was initiated to study frequency of acromegalic osseous-articular complications in the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as their associations with sex, age and the disease duration. 435 patients with somatotrophic pituitary adenomas with osseous-articular complications registered in the National Acromegaly Register of Uzbekistan. General clinical examination included (i) RIA investigations of LH, FSH, prolactin, TTH, GH, IGF-1, IGFBP-3, cortisol, testosterone, estradiol, free T₄, (ii) spot X-ray of the Turkish saddle, (iii) CT and/or MRI of the hypothalamic-pituitary area, (iv) ultrasound investigation of inner organs and the thyroid, (v) neuro-ophthalmological examination of the vision acuity, the field of vision and the fundus of the eye, as well as bone densitometry and X-ray, and biochemical investigations. There were 162 men (37.2%) and 273 (62.8%) women among the patients aged from 19 to 78, mean age was 43.4±8.5 years.As our findings demonstrated, the frequency of osseous-articular complications among the acromegalics in Uzbekistan was high; the one of osteoporosis was the highest (69.4%). It is clear that the complications were significantly more frequent in the females, osteoporosis and osteopenia, in particular, 61%, p<0.01 and 33.5%, p<0.05, respectively. Direct correlation was found between female sex and osteoporosis (r=0.19, p<0.05) and osteopenia (r=0.19, p<0.05). The frequency of complications was the highest in persons older than 50 years, osteoporosis (68.9%, p<0.001) and arthropathies (56.5%, p<0.01) were shown to prevail. Frequency of acromegalic osseous-articular complications in the Republic of Uzbekistan was found high; osteoporosis, arthropathies and osteopenia were found in 69.4%, 59% and 36.6% of patients, respectively; osteoporosis (r=0.19, p<0.05) and osteopenia (r=0.19, p<0.05) prevailed in women. Direct correlations were found between the age of patients and osteopenia (r=0.13, p<0.05), osteoporosis (r=0.27) and arthropathy (r=0.14, p<0.05), as well as between the disease duration and osteopenia (r=0.16, p<0.05), and osteoporosis (r=0.09, p<0.05)