To date, no data are available on the effects of long-term combined treatment with somatostatin analogues (SA) and pegvisomant (PEG) on cardiovascular complications in acromegaly. The current study aimed at investigating the effects of long-term SA + PEG on cardiac structure and performance. Thirty-six patients (14 M, 22 F, aged 52.3 ± 10.2 years) entered this study. Weight, BMI, systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, IGF-I, fasting glucose (FG), fasting insulin (FI), HOMA-IR, HbA1c, and lipids were evaluated at baseline (T0), after long-term (median 36 months) SA (T1), after 12 (T12) and 60 (T60) months of SA + PEG, and at last follow-up (LFU, median 78 months). At each time point, all patients underwent echocardiography. At T1, induced a slight but not significant decrease in IGF-I (p = 0.077), whereas FI (p = 0.004), HOMA-IR (p = 0.013), ejection fraction (EF, p = 0.013), early (E) to late (A) ventricular filling velocities (E/A, p = 0.001), and isovolumetric relaxation time (IVRT, p = 0.000) significantly improved. At T12, IGF-I (p = 0.000) significantly reduced compared to T0, and FI (p = 0.001), HOMA-IR (p = 0.000), LVMI (p = 0.000), and E/A (p = 0.006) further improved compared to T1. At T60, FI (p = 0.027), HOMA-IR (p = 0.049), and E/A (p = 0.005) significantly improved as compared to T1. At LFU IGF-I normalized in 83.3 %, FI (p = 0.000), HOMA-IR (p = 0.000), LVMi (p = 0.000), and E/A (p = 0.005) further improved as compared to T1. PEG dose significantly correlated with LVMi at T12 (r = 0.575, p = 0.000) and T60 (r = 0.403, p = 0.037). Long-term PEG addition to SA improves cardiac structure and performance, particularly diastolic dysfunction, in acromegalic patients resistant to SA.
Keywords: Acromegalic cardiomyopathy; Acromegaly; Cardiac performance; Cardiac structure; Diastolic dysfunction; Ejection fraction; IGF-I; Insulin resistance; Left ventricular hypertrophy; Metabolic syndrome; Pegvisomant; Pituitary tumors; Somatostatin analogues.