[Giantism. A historical and medical view].
Patients with giantism were displayed as curiosities to large audiences in the past. The (medical) histories of famous giants like Daniel Cajanus (born in 1702 or 1703, Finland), Charles Byrne (1761, Ireland), Edouard Beaupré (1881, Canada) and Robert Wadlow (1918, Illinois, USA) are well described in the international medical literature. Extensive data from the entertainment world and/or medical data exist on famous Dutch giants like Klaas van Kyeten (end of 13th century), Gerrit Bastiaansz. de Hals (1620), Albert Johan Kramer (1897) and Rigardus Rijnhout (1922). Famous Dutch giantesses are Trijntje Kornelisse Keever (1614) and Kaatje van Dijk (1904). In most giants, excessive growth was caused by a somatotroph pituitary adenoma, sometimes in combination with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. In the western world, it is unlikely that there will be many more people with fully developed giantism due to the current high level of medical care.
de Herder
W W
WW
Erasmus Medisch Centrum, afd. Inwendige Geneeskunde, sector Endocrinologie, Dr.Molewaterplein 40, 30o5 GD Rotterdam. w.w.deherder@erasmusmc.nl
D000236:Adenoma / Q000150:complications / Q000266:history*; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D005877:Gigantism / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history*; D006128:Growth / Q000502:physiology; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D007006:Hypogonadism / Q000150:complications / Q000266:history*; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000266:history*