Improvement of ventricular arrhythmia by octreotide treatment in acromegalic cardiomyopathy.

We report a case of acromegalic cardiomyopathy in a 46-year-old Japanese man with pituitary adenoma. Increased secretion of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor I were detected. He had left ventricular hypertrophy, impaired cardiac function, and frequent ventricular premature complexes. After 2-month treatment with octreotide, a long-acting somatostatin analogue, levels of both hormones were decreased. At the same time, left ventricular hypertrophy (intraventricular septal thickness: 22.5 to 17.8 mm), cardiac function (ejection fraction: 38 to 50%), and frequency of ventricular premature complexes (17,249 to 2,882 beats a day) were improved. Transsphenoidal surgery was then safely performed. Treatment with octreotide is thought to have some effect on improvement of ventricular arrhythmia in acromegalic heart.