Types and prevalence of mental disorders in patients with acromegaly
Starostina E.G ¹., Bobrov A.E. ², Alexandrova M.M. <sup>3

1</sup> M.F. Vladimirskiy Moscow Regional Clinical and Research Institute, Moscow
² Federal Medical Research Center of psychiatry and narcology named after V.P. Serbsky, Moscow
³ Russian National Research Medical University named after N.I. Pirogov, Moscow

Mental disorders are frequently seen in patients with pituitary adenomas; however, data on their types and prevalence in patients with acromegaly are scarce and controversial.
Aim: to study types and prevalence rates of mental disorders in a representative sample of patients with acromegaly. 
Methods: One hundred and fifteen (115) patients with acromegaly (95 female and 20 male, aged from 21 to 78) that represented 71,5% of the Registry on acromegaly in the Moscow region, were consecutively recruited into this cross-sectional study we consecutively recruited. The diagnosis of acromegaly / somatotropinoma was confirmed according to the current guidelines based on laboratory data (serum growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1) and brain MRI. All patients were seen by a psychiatrist; mental disorders were diagnosed with ICD-10 criteria using a structured psychiatric interview (CIDI). Additionally, Mini-Mental State Examination scale and Hypomania-Checklist (HCL-32) were used.
Results: Mental disorders were diagnosed in 79,1% of patients. Affective disorders were found in 53% of patients, with bipolar spectrum disorders in 35,7%. Organic mental disorders were identified in 46,1%, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, in 5,2%. There was an association between organic mental disorders and patient’s age and number of somatic comorbidities. Prevalence of neurotic, anxiety and stress disorders was lower than is commonly seen in patients with chronic somatic diseases.
Conclusion: The vast majority of patients with acromegaly have mental disorders, with their types and prevalence being unique for this disease. Prevalence rates of bipolar and schizophrenic spectrum disorders are manifold higher than those in the population, that suggests that dopaminergic transmission in the CNS might contribute as a potential common abnormality in acromegaly and these categories of mental disease.

Key words: acromegaly, psychoendocrinology, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, organic mental disorder.
For citation: Starostina E.G., Bobrov A.E., Alexandrova M.M. Types and prevalence of mental disorders in patients with acromegaly // RMJ. 2017. № 1. P. 18–23.