Pituitary Macroadenoma Presenting as Acromegaly and Subacute Pituitary Apoplexy: Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

We report a case of a patient who presented to our endocrinology department for gradual onset with headache, fatigue, and weight loss over the course of one month. On physical examination, the patient showcased coarse facial features, acral enlargement, and other features suggestive of acromegaly. However, despite a clinical picture consistent with this diagnosis, serum growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1 were below reference range. Furthermore, secondary adrenal insufficiency, secondary hypothyroidism, and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism were discovered. Imaging revealed a pituitary macroadenoma and after a neurosurgical consult, the patient underwent transsphenoidal hypophysectomy and the suspected diagnosis of subacute pituitary adenoma apoplexy (SPAA) was confirmed via histology of resected tissue. Additionally, we review the literature for other case reports of patients with acromegaly or acromegalic features who underwent pituitary apoplexy to identify patient characteristics, presumed etiologies, and presence of biochemical cure of acromegaly following SPAA.