892 



HAKVEY G. BECK 



1901 FROHLICH, A. (Study of the clinical side.) Description of syn- 

 drome: obesity, general hypoplasia, infantile genitalia, etc., with 

 pituitary tumor. 



(Ein Fall von Tumor der Hypophysis cerebri ohne Akromegalie. 

 Wien. klin. Eundschau, 1901, XV, 883-906) 



Symptomatology 



The signs and symptoms associated with hypophyseal dystrophia adi- 

 posogenitalis are essentially those of hypopituitarism. The syndrome as 

 described by Frohlich(o-) is not a clinical entity but a mere grouping of 



the most characteristic symptoms in selected 

 cases of hypophyseal tumor (Lyon) ; and the 

 most modern conception based largely on the 

 knowledge obtained through physiological in- 

 vestigation includes all those symptoms which 

 are the direct result of underfunction. 



In order to present the subject in a 

 thorough and comprehensive manner it seems 

 advisable first to give a general description of 

 the symptoms and then to consider more in 

 detail the special features and allied conditions. 

 General Description. The two striking 

 symptoms emphasized by Frohlich in his orig- 

 inal report are obesity and genital hypoplasia. 

 These symptoms naturally vary somewhat, de- 

 pending upon the sex and the age of the indi- 

 vidual at which the disease first manifests 

 itself. The obesity may be enormous. The 

 fat usually assumes a fairly definite type of 

 distribution with relative increase of subcu- 

 taneous deposits about the hips, thighs, mons 

 and lower abdomen girdle obesity. In early 

 life, and occasionally in adults, the adiposus is 

 more general, involving the mammae, pectorals, 

 clavicular spaces, etc. 



There are also certain characteristic integu- 

 mental changes. The texture of the skin is 

 remarkably delicate, and the fair complexion 

 -"peaches and cream" variety characteristic of youth may persist long 

 after adolescence. In the severe forms it may be white and transparent like 

 alabaster. To the touch it feels cool and dry, and sometimes it exfoliates ; in 

 rare instances it may resemble that in myxedema or in scleroderma. The 



. 19. Von Frohlich's 

 case of hypophyseal obesity 

 after operation/ (After A. 

 Biedl, "Tnnere Sekretion," 

 published by Urban & 

 Schwarzenberg, Berlin.) 



