Boy grew 25 centimeters in one year and was diagnosed with gigantism. From basketball dream to health warning! Recently, a 20-year-old Liu from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, grew rapidly after puberty. He grew 25 centimeters in one year and is currently 223 centimeters tall. Due to his height advantage, Xiao Liu was sent to a sports school to play basketball, but he suffered from physical exhaustion during training and competitions. Medical examination revealed that Xiao Liu’s blood sugar level was extremely high and he needed to inject 80 units of insulin every day to control his blood sugar. In addition, his growth hormone increased more than 300 times, and he was eventually diagnosed with benign pituitary tumors, acromegaly, pituitary gigantism, and diabetes. After surgical treatment, Xiao Liu’s physical indicators were under control and he has now recovered and been discharged from the hospital.
If excessive secretion of growth hormone occurs in adolescence, gigantism will occur; if it occurs in adults, it will lead to acromegaly, which is manifested by symptoms such as thickened fingers and ugly face. This condition may also cause complications in multiple organ systems such as respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, and glucose metabolism, such as appearance changes, headaches, arthralgias, and severe systemic complications, including metabolic, cardiovascular, and osteoarticular comorbidities, especially axial arthritis and a high risk of tumor growth, such as colon polyps and thyroid nodules. Both gigantism and acromegaly are easily misdiagnosed. Director of Neurosurgery Su Zhipeng reminded that generally speaking, before puberty, children should grow about 5-7 centimeters per year. After entering puberty, they can grow about 10 centimeters per year. Parents must pay attention to their children’s abnormal growth.
