How Is Acromegaly Diagnosed?
It's not easy to diagnose acromegaly, because each patient will have different symptoms. But there are tests that your endocrinologist, neurosurgeon, and primary care physician can use to help make an accurate diagnosis of acromegaly. Often, two or more tests are used in combination:
- The acromegaly symptoms you are experiencing may lead your doctor to believe you may have acromegaly. He or she may obtain tests to see if you have a pituitary tumor causing the condition. Medical imaging techniques, such as a magnetic resonance image (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scan of the head, can be used for this purpose.4
- There are also tests to measure the level of growth hormone (GH) in the blood.1 Production of too much GH is the primary cause of acromegaly.3 GH measurements are often taken during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), during which you will drink a sugary liquid and have several blood samples taken over the course of up to 3 hours.5 If the GH level does not significantly decline during the test, then you may have acromegaly.
- Another test used in the diagnosis of acromegaly measures the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) level in a blood sample.
Though the process of diagnosing acromegaly is not always simple, you can feel confident that once a diagnosis has been made there are effective ways to manage the disease.
Individual response to any acromegaly therapy will vary from patient to patient. Ask your endocrinologist if Somatuline® Depot therapy is right for you.
Important Information About Somatuline Depot
Your doctor is your primary source of information about treatment. For more information, please talk to your doctor and see the full Patient Information. Before each treatment, please read the Patient Information that comes with each package of Somatuline Depot (lanreotide) Injection, as there may be new information.
Who is Somatuline Depot for?
Somatuline Depot is a prescription medicine used for the long-term treatment of people with acromegaly when:
- surgery or radiotherapy have not worked well enough or
- they are not able to have surgery or radiotherapy
It is not known if Somatuline Depot is safe and effective in children.
Before taking Somatuline Depot, you should talk to your doctor about all of your medical conditions and medicines you are taking, including if you have:
- Gallbladder, thyroid, heart, kidney, and liver problems
- Diabetes
- Are allergic to latex or natural dry rubber
- Are taking cyclosporine (Gengraf, Neoral, Sandimmune)
- Are receiving medicines that lower heart rate such as beta-blockers
- Are taking a medicine called bromocriptine (Parlodel)
- Are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, breast-feeding, or plan to breast-feed, it is not known if Somatuline Depot could harm your unborn baby or passes into your breast milk
What are possible side effects of Somatuline Depot?
Somatuline Depot may cause serious side effects, including:
- Gallstones. Tell your doctor if you have any of these symptoms including: sudden pain in your upper right stomach area (abdominal), right shoulder or between your shoulder blades, yellowing of your skin and whites of your eyes, fever with chills, and/or nausea
- Changes in your blood sugar. Your doctor may change your dose of diabetes medicine especially when you first start receiving Somatuline Depot or if your dose of Somatuline Depot changes.
- Slow heart rate
- High blood pressure
The most common side effects of Somatuline Depot include: diarrhea, stomach area (abdominal) pain, nausea, and pain, itching, or lump at the injection site.
Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all the possible side effects of Somatuline Depot. For more information ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
