Informing & Supporting Thyroid Patients Since 1985
Informing & Supporting Thyroid Patients Since 1985
Thyroid Research 
Thyroid Research Archive Nodular Goiter
(July 2002)
The background for the study. Thyroid dysfunction and enlargement are thought to be common in patients with pituitary tumors that secrete growth hormone (acromegaly). This study was undertaken to determine the frequency of thyroid disorders in patients with acromegaly and patients with other pituitary tumors.
How the study was done. The study subjects were 258 patients with acromegaly (mean age, 50 years) and 150 patients with other pituitary tumors (mean age, 48 years). Among the latter patients, 106 had tumors that secreted prolactin and 44 had nonsecreting tumors.
Thyroid volume was measured by ultrasonography. Thyroid biopsies were done in 62 patients with acromegaly and 14 patients with other pituitary tumors. Serum thyroxine, thyrotropin, growth hormone, and prolactin were measured in all patients.
The results of the study. A thyroid abnormality, most commonly a nodular goiter or a diffuse goiter, was found in 78 percent of the patients with acromegaly, as compared with 27 percent of the patients with other pituitary tumors (P<0.01). The mean thyroid volume in 194 patients with acromegaly was 24 ml (range, 4 to 137), as compared with 14 ml (range, 4 to 87) in the patients with other pituitary tumors. Thyroid volume was correlated with the estimated duration of acromegaly, but not with patient age or serum growth hormone concentrations. Serum thyroid hormone and thyrotropin concentrations were similar in the two groups.
The conclusions of the study. Thyroid disorders are more common in patients with acromegaly that in those with other pituitary tumors.
The original article. Gasperi M, Martino E, Manetti L, Arosio M, Porretti S, Faglia G, Mariotti S, Colao AM, Lombardi G, Baldelli R, Camanni F, Liuzzi A, and the Acromegaly Study Group of the Italian Society of Endocrinology. Prevalence of thyroid diseases in patients with acromegaly: results of an Italian multi-center study. J Endocrinol Invest 2002;25:240-5.
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