• Marcelo Palmeira Rodrigues, Luciana Ansaneli Naves, Carlos Alberto Viegas, Cesar Augusto Melo-Silva, Wagner Diniz de Paula, Márcia Teixeira Cabral, Renata Rodrigues Araújo, and Luiz Augusto Casulari.
• School of Medicine, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brasil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2015 Sep 1; 133 (5): 394400394-400.

Context And ObjectiveDifferent functional respiratory alterations have been described in acromegaly, but their relationship with pulmonary tissue abnormalities is unknown. The objective of this study was to observe possible changes in lung structure and explain their relationship with gas exchange abnormalities.Design And SettingCross-sectional analytical study with a control group, conducted at a university hospital.MethodsThe study included 36 patients with acromegaly and 24 controls who were all assessed through high-resolution computed tomography of the thorax (CT). Arterial blood gas, effort oximetry and serum growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) were also assessed in the patients with acromegaly.ResultsThe abnormalities found in the CT scan were not statistically different between the acromegaly and control groups: mild cylindrical bronchiectasis (P = 0.59), linear opacity (P = 0.29), nodular opacity (P = 0.28), increased attenuation (frosted glass; P = 0.48) and decreased attenuation (emphysema; P = 0.32). Radiographic abnormalities were not associated with serum GH and IGF-1. Hypoxemia was present in seven patients; however, in six of them, the hypoxemia could be explained by underlying clinical conditions other than acromegaly: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in two, obesity in two, bronchial infection in one and asthma in one.ConclusionNo changes in lung structure were detected through thorax tomography in comparison with the control subjects. The functional respiratory alterations found were largely explained by alternative diagnoses or had subclinical manifestations, without any plausible relationship with lung structural factors.

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