Complications of surgery may include cerebrospinal fluid leaks, meningitis, or damage to the surrounding normal pituitary tissue, requiring lifelong pituitary hormone replacement.Even when surgery is successful and hormone levels return to normal, people must be carefully monitored for years for possible recurrence. More commonly, hormone levels may improve, but not return completely to normal. These people may then require additional treatment, usually with medications. Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy has been used both as a primary treatment and combined with surgery or drugs. It is usually reserved for people who have tumor remaining after surgery. These people often also receive medication to lower GH levels. Radiation therapy is given in divided doses over four to six weeks. This treatment lowers GH levels by about 50 percent over 2 to 5 years. People monitored for more than 5 years show significant further improvement. Radiation therapy causes a gradual loss of production of other pituitary hormones with time. Loss of vision and brain injury, which have been reported, are very rare complications of radiation treatments. Selection of treatment
The initial treatment chosen should be individualized depending on the persons characteristics, such as age and tumor size. If the tumor has not yet invaded surrounding brain tissues, removal of the pituitary adenoma by an experienced neurosurgeon is usually the first choice. After surgery, a person must be monitored long-term for increasing GH levels.If surgery does not normalize hormone levels or a relapse occurs, a doctor will usually begin additional drug therapy.
Without treatment, life expectancy is reduced by 10 years; with treatment, life expectancy is not reduced.Acromegaly affects about 3 per 50,000 people. It is most commonly diagnosed in middle age. Males and females are affected with equal frequency. It was first described in the medical literature by Nicolas Saucerotte in 1772. The term is from the Greek ἄκρον (akron) meaning "extremity", and μέγα (mega) meaning "large". Signs and symptoms
Features that may result from a high level of GH or expanding tumor include:
Headaches – often severe and prolonged
Soft tissue swelling visibly resulting in enlargement of the hands, feet, nose, lips, and ears, and a general thickening of the skin
Soft tissue swelling of internal organs, notably the heart with the attendant weakening of its muscularity, and the kidneys, also the vocal cords resulting in a characteristic thick, deep voice and slowing of speech
Generalized expansion of the skull at the fontanelle
Pronounced brow protrusion, often with ocular distension (frontal bossing)
Pronounced lower jaw protrusion (prognathism) with attendant macroglossia (enlargement of the tongue) and teeth spacing
Hypertrichosis, hyperpigmentation and hyperhidrosis may occur in these people. : 499 
Skin tags
Carpal tunnel syndrome

Complications
Problems with bones and joints, including osteoarthritis, nerve compression syndrome due to bony overgrowth, and carpal tunnel syndrome
Hypertension
Diabetes mellitus
Cardiomyopathy, potentially leading to heart failure
Colorectal cancer
Sleep Apnea
Thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer
Hypogonadism
Compression of the optic chiasm by the growth of pituitary adenoma leading to visual problems

Causes
Pituitary adenoma
About 98% of cases of acromegaly are due to the overproduction of growth hormone by a benign tumor of the pituitary gland called an adenoma.