GIGANTISM AND ACROMEGALY - Diagnosis
In fully developed acromegaly the physical findings are so characteristic as to provide an unmistakable diagnosis. Confirmation of this diagnosis as well as determination of whether or not the disease is in an active phase requires measurement of growth hormone. Levels of growth hormone obtained under basal conditions generally exceed the upper limit of normal (5 ng/ml) and typically cannot be suppressed by a physiological maneuver such as administration of glucose. A paradoxical increase in growth hormone levels in response to administration of glucose occurs in some patients with acromegaly, whereas administration of L-dopa, which normally stimulates growth hormone, usually reduces the levels. Both TRH and GnRH, which normally have no effect on growth hormone, may cause a paradoxical rise in growth hormone levels in patients with acromegaly. Measurement of plasma concentrations of somatomedin C may also be useful, inasmuch as plasma levels of this mediator of growth hormone action fluctuate less than those of growth hormone and are thought to reflect more accurately the state of disease activity.
- HYPERPROLACTINEMIA: GALACTORRHEA-AMENORRHEA SYNDROME - Etiology
- DISORDERS OF THE POSTERIOR PITUITARY
- PITUITARY NEOPLASMS: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
- GIGANTISM AND ACROMEGALY - Treatment
- GIGANTISM AND ACROMEGALY - Diagnosis
- HYPERPROLACTINEMIA: GALACTORRHEA-AMENORRHEA SYNDROME - Clinical Manifestations
- GIGANTISM AND ACROMEGALY
- HYPERPROLACTINEMIA: GALACTORRHEA-AMENORRHEA SYNDROME - Diagnosis
- SYNDROMES OF ANTERIOR PITUITARY HYPERFUNCTION: THE PITUITARY ADENOMA
- HYPERPROLACTINEMIA: GALACTORRHEA-AMENORRHEA SYNDROME - Treatment