Endocrinological evaluation of GH deficient patient with acromegaloidism showing excessive growth.
In this report we describe the first case of a girl with acromegaloidism in Japan. She had large and coarse facial features with acral enlargement accompanying height overgrowth; these resemble the manifestations of acromegaly and gigantism due to growth hormone (GH) overproduction. However, pituitary function studies revealed a dysfunction of her GH secretion. Moreover, markedly decreased serum somatomedin C (SM-C) levels also indicated impairment of GH secretion. Therefore, GH and SM-C cannot have been responsible for promoting somatic growth. However, serum alkaline-phosphatase (Al-P) and osteocalcin, were increased, indicating that stimulation of bone metabolism was increased without GH and SM-C effects. The patient is a typical case showing growth without GH, and these data suggest the existence of an unidentified growth promoting factor that is independent of GH and SM-C.
Iwatani
N
N
Department of Child Development, Kumamoto University Medical School, Japan.
Kodama
M
M
Miike
T
T
D000172:Acromegaly / Q000097:blood*; D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000097:blood*; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency*; D006728:Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism*; D010901:Pituitary Function Tests
D006728:Hormones; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D013006:Growth Hormone