Gigantism


Excessive growth both in height and specific body parts. Gigantism with extreme height may be associated with disorders of pituitary gland, which may oversecrete human growth hormone (somatotrophin) during childhood before the bones fuse. Excessive growth of specific body parts is also a feature of a number of disorders such as the Wiedemann-Beckwith syndrome in which there is macroglossia (an abnormally large tongue).

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  • Gigantism, eunuchoid

    Extremely tall stature due to the delayed onset of puberty that permits the continued growth of the long bones before their growing ends (epiphyses) fuse and growth stops.

  • Gigantism, focal

    Extreme growth of specific body parts, such as one arm, the tongue, or a combination of parts, as seen in Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome or acromegaly. Focal gigantism may occur before or after the bones fuse. If it occurs afterward, it causes disfigurement. Surgery for mass reduction can help improve function, and other treatments may be available […]

  • Gigantism, pituitary

    Excessive growth and height due to chronic overactivity of the pituitary gland (at the base of the brain). (Growth hormone is specifically made by the anterior pituitary gland.) In pituitary gigantism, there is secretion of too much growth hormone before the end of adolescence. People with pituitary gigantism can truly be giants. They can sometimes […]

  • Gilbert syndrome

    A common but harmless genetic condition in which UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, a liver enzyme that is essential to the disposal of bilirubin, is abnormal. Mutations in the same gene cause the Crigler-Najjar syndrome, which is a more severe and dangerous form of hyperbilirubinemia (high bilirubin in the blood). Also known as hyperbilirubinemia type 1.

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