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Growth-Hormone-Secreting Pituitary Adenomas

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The Pituitary Adenoma

Abstract

Acromegaly is a rare endocrinopathy that is estimated to occur with a frequency of one in 5000–15,000 patients.1 The term, derived from the Greek akron (extremity) and megale (great), was first used by Marie2 in 1886 to describe two patients with a syndrome in which hypertrophy of the extremities was the most striking clinical feature. His clinical description delineated the classic features of this condition, viz., marked enlargement of the hands and feet, prognathism, macroglossia, thickened skin associated with headache, joint pain, and lethargy. Although a relationship to the pituitary was postulated, Marie interpreted autopsy findings of a pituitary tumor in acromegaly as evidence of adenohypophyseal insufficiency (for a historical review, see Lawrence.3 ). It was Harvey Cushing4 who in 1909 first used the term ‘‘hyperpituitarism” in relation to acromegaly, and his concept was provided with a firm scientific basis following the demonstration by Evans and Long that gigantism could be produced in rats by injection of a pituitary gland extract.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Tufts-New England Medical Center Hospital, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, 02111, USA

    Ivor M. D. Jackson

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  1. Ivor M. D. Jackson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. New England Medical Center Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Kalmon D. Post M. D. , Ivor M. D. Jackson M. D.  & Seymour Reichlin M. D., Ph. D. ,  & 

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© 1980 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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Jackson, I.M.D. (1980). Growth-Hormone-Secreting Pituitary Adenomas. In: Post, K.D., Jackson, I.M.D., Reichlin, S. (eds) The Pituitary Adenoma. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3668-6_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3668-6_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-3670-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-3668-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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