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Department of Endocrinology, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 1 Department of Endocrinology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, 2 Department of Endocrinology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium, 3 Department of Endocrinology, University Hospital Erasme, Brussels, Belgium, 4 Department of Endocrinology, AZ VUB, Brussels, Belgium, 5 Department of Endocrinology, UCL St Luc, Brussels, Belgium and 6 Medical department, Novartis Pharma Belgium, Brussels, Belgium
(Correspondence should be addressed to M Bex who is now at Department of Endocrinology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Email: marie.bex{at}uz.kuleuven.ac.be)
Objectives: To constitute a registry on acromegaly, AcroBel, to evaluate the epidemiology and quality of care of acromegaly in Belgium and Luxembourg.
Design: A nationwide survey from June 2003 till September 2004 aiming to collect data from all patients with acromegaly who had visited the participating endocrine clinics after 1 January 2000.
Methods: Retrospective data collection coupled to a visit within the survey period, allowing sampling of metabolic parameters and centralised determination of GH and IGF-I.
Results: Four hundred and eighteen patients (51% men) were included, of which 96 were new cases, giving a mean incidence of 1.9 cases per million (c.p.m.) per year. The global prevalence was 41 c.p.m. but varied between 21 and 61 among different areas. Twenty-eight deaths were reported at a median age of 68 years in men and 74 years in women. The standardised mortality rate was significantly increased only in irradiated patients (2.70; confidence interval 1.60–4.55). Central measurements were available in 316 (75%) patients. Mean GH was 
2 µg/l in 65% and IGF-I was normal for age in 56%, while both criteria were fulfilled in 49%. Multimodal treatment was more effective than primary medical therapy, since 56.5% were controlled versus 24.3% (P < 0.0001).
Conclusions: AcroBel provides an excellent tool to analyse the prevalence, incidence, treatment modalities and outcome of acromegaly in Belgium. This real-life survey reveals that only half of acromegalic patients received an adequate therapy resulting in cure or disease control when stringent biochemical criteria are used.
This article has been cited by other articles:
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  I M Holdaway, M J Bolland, and G D Gamble A meta-analysis of the effect of lowering serum levels of GH and IGF-I on mortality in acromegaly Eur. J. Endocrinol., August 1, 2008; 159(2): 89 - 95. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 S. M. Carlsen, M. Lund-Johansen, T. Schreiner, S. Aanderud, O. Johannesen, J. Svartberg, J. G. Cooper, J. K. Hald, S. L. Fougner, J. Bollerslev, et al. Preoperative Octreotide Treatment in Newly Diagnosed Acromegalic Patients with Macroadenomas Increases Cure Short-Term Postoperative Rates: A Prospective, Randomized Trial J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., August 1, 2008; 93(8): 2984 - 2990. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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O. Alexopoulou, M. Bex, R. Abs, G. T'Sjoen, B. Velkeniers, and D. Maiter Divergence between Growth Hormone and Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Concentrations in the Follow-Up of Acromegaly J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., April 1, 2008; 93(4): 1324 - 1330. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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G. T'Sjoen, M. Bex, D. Maiter, B. Velkeniers, and R. Abs Health-related quality of life in acromegalic subjects: data from AcroBel, the Belgian Registry on acromegaly Eur. J. Endocrinol., October 1, 2007; 157(4): 411 - 417. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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