Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0344232 (blurred vision)
 2,072 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Visual improvement following octreotide for growth hormone secreting pituitary macroadenomas is uncommon without tumour shrinkage. A 45-year old lady presented with blurred vision for 12 months. Visual assessment revealed a bitemporal hemianopia and CT scan demonstrated a large pituitary tumour with lateral and suprasellar extension. Acromegaly was confirmed by 75 g glucose tolerance testing. Primary transsphenoidal surgery was performed with normalisation of visual acuity and fields of vision. Post-operatively she had anterior pituitary hormone deficiency. As GH and IGF-1 levels remained elevated she underwent external pituitary irradiation. CT scanning demonstrated tumour shrinkage associated with a modest fall in GH levels. IGF-1 levels remained elevated falling to the age-related upper limit of normal after 5 years. At regular review she had stable visual acuity and fields of vision. She presented as an emergency 7 years from presentation with reduced vision and recurrence of bitemporal hemianopia. An MRI demonstrated a large pituitary adenoma. We therefore undertook a carefully monitored trial of octreotide with great caution with daily reassessment of acuity and fields. A decision was made to proceed to surgery in the event of deterioration or lack of improvement after a short trial over 5-7 days. We observed normalisation of visual acuity and perimetry within 3 days. She then commenced long-acting octreotide (Sandostatin LAR) 20 mg every 28 days. MRI after 1 week showed shrinkage of the tumour by a few millimetres. Five months later repeat MRI failed to show any further improvement in tumour size. However she remains well 29 months from treatment with normal vision and is being monitored carefully as her chosen form of therapy. Somatostatin analogues may be effective as therapy in a selected group of patients with acromegaly and visual loss who are not suitable for pituitary surgery. If used in this way the drug must be given cautiously with frequent detailed ongoing visual assessments. In this present case there has been a restoration of vision but the long-term outlook remains guarded without significant tumor shrinkage.
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PMID:Sustained improvement in vision in a recurrent growth hormone secreting macroadenoma during treatment with octreotide in the absence of marked tumour shrinkage. 1523 32

Diabetes mellitus develops in about 10% of acromegalic patients, usually secondary to insulin resistance caused by growth hormone excess. Diabetic ketoacidosis is a result of relative insulin deficiency and is a rare feature of acromegaly. Here, we present one case of this disorder. A 57-year-old man came to the emergency room due to 2 weeks of dizziness. He also had polyuria, polydipsia, nausea, diplopia, blurred vision and dysarthria. His plasma glucose level was 32.06 mmol/L, plasma osmolarity was 322 mOsm/L, arterial pH was 7.30, level of bicarbonates was 18 mmol/L, urine ketones was 4+, and HbA1c was 14.1%. No specific cause for the development of this metabolic derangement could be found. He displayed clinical features of acromegaly during admission, which was confirmed by an elevated growth hormone level and pituitary macroadenoma shown on magnetic resonance imaging. The patient underwent total transsphenoid tumor removal 2 weeks later; plasma glucose levels became normal thereafter.
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PMID:Diabetic ketoacidosis in a patient with acromegaly. 1790 70