Lipohypertrophy in Acromegaly Induced by the New Growth Hormone Receptor Antagonist Pegvisomant

Background: Pegvisomant (Somavert, Pfizer, New York, New York) was recently released in Italy for the treatment of acromegaly. This drug binds to growth hormone receptors and blocks the binding of endogenous growth hormone, thus decreasing serum concentrations of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). Several studies reported that pegvisomant was safe and effective in more than 100 patients with acromegaly (1, 2). However, patients taking pegvisomant should be carefully followed for possible adverse effects, including increased baseline levels of growth hormone, pituitary tumor growth, hypoglycemia when taking antidiabetic drugs, functional growth hormone deficiency, and hepatitis (3). Local reactions were reported in 18 of 160 patients with acromegaly and were generally characterized as mild, …