Clinical and Economic Burden of Commercially Insured Patients with Acromegaly in the United States: A Retrospective Analysis

BACKGROUND: Acromegaly is a chronic disorder characterized by excess growth hormone secretion and elevated insulin-like growth factor-1 levels most often caused by a pituitary adenoma. Clinical presentation of the disease includes coarsening of the facial features, soft-tissue swelling of the hands and feet, and overgrowth of the frontal skull and protrusion of the jaw, as well as joint symptoms. Acromegaly is associated with several comorbidities, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and arthropathy, which, if left untreated, can lead to early mortality. Surgery to remove the adenoma is the first-line treatment for many patients, but more than 50% of patients will require additional pharmacologic or radiation therapy. OBJECTIVES: To (a) determine the clinical and economic burden of illness among patients with acromegaly using administrative claims data from a large, commercially insured population in the United States and (b) estimate the most frequent acromegaly-related comorbidities and health c...