Acromegaly linked to colonic diverticula

They suspect that the excess hormone levels lead to disturbed matrix regulation causing diverticula to develop.

The study compared the colonoscopies of 107 patients with cured or biochemically controlled acromegaly with an age- and-sex matched control group who had presented for symptomatic or asymptomatic screening.

The prevalence of diverticula was identified in the acromegaly patients at a younger age, the researchers noted.

Patients with the longest disease duration also had an increased risk ratio for diverticula and were also four times more likely to have adenomatous polyps (P<0.001).

Furthermore, they were 12 times more likely than controls to have dolichocolon and this was associated with IGF-I concentrations at diagnosis.

“This case control study in patients with cured/controlled acromegaly is the first to report that acromegaly is associated with colonic diverticula,” the authors say.

“On a microscopic level, colons with diverticulaosis may have increased elastin in the taenia and structural changes in the collagen that mimic those seen with aging,” they noted.

J Clin Endriocrinol Metab 2010 published online before print