Pituitary gigantism. A case report and review

Abstract

Prior to the end of the 19th century, many reports dealing with acromegaly and gigantism appeared. The two syndromes were related to each other clinically by Brissaud and Miege in 1895¹; Hutchinson described pathologic similarity in 1900.²Thirty-two years later Cushing reaffirmed that pituitary adenomata were regularly found in patients manifesting either acromegaly or gigantism. He expressed the theory that the relative rarity of pituitary gigantism resulted from the recognized lack of adenoma formation in early life.³Following Cushing's writings of 1927, scattered case reports dealing with the subject of pituitary gigantism appeared.^4-7Recent reports presented the first detailed studies of human growth hormone (HGH) levels and their response to various manipulations in two giants.^8,9However, it is still true that much of what is written in textbooks regarding pituitary gigantism is derived by inference from what is known of the more common adult syndrome