Gland surgery
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Growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary adenomas, responsible for the development of acromegaly, are the second most frequent type of secreting pituitary adenomas and are characterized by very variable T2-weighted signal intensity on pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Previous data have demonstrated a correlation between T2-weighted tumor signal intensity and response to therapy with conventional somatostatin analogs (SSA) in patients with acromegaly. The aim of the current retrospective study was to investigate the correlation between the T2-weighted tumor signal on pituitary MRI and both biochemical and radiological response to first-line SSA therapy. ⋯ In naive patients with acromegaly, first-line SSA therapy is associated with a better biochemical response and greater tumor shrinkage in T2-hypointense compared to T2-hyperintense adenomas. Therefore, T2-weighted sequences of pituitary MRI can help to classify GH-secreting pituitary adenomas into a T2-hypointense and T2-hyperintense type and, therefore, to identify patients who can better respond to first-line SSA therapy.