GIGANTISM 827 



developed, and he had no beard, axillary or pubic hair. Scoliosis was 

 marked and the bones of the legs were badly curved. The head was large 

 and deformed, with a prominence on the left side and a tumor on the 

 lower jaw. The hands and feet were very large. He became blind in 

 the left eye, and developed temporal hemianopsia in the right eye. 

 Polyuria and glycosuria also set in. On account of the deformities his 

 height decreased from 193 to 182 cm. 



At the necropsy the skull was found to be enormously thickened, to 

 the extent of 4 cm. in the occipital and 6 cm. in the frontal region. The 

 large tumor of the lower jaw was found to be a spindle^celled osteosarcoma. 

 The hypophysis was the seat of a large adenoma. 



Gigantism with Infantilism and Acromegaly 



Obviously, the placing of the recorded giants in the three chosen 

 groups must be somewhat arbitrary. The distinction between the second 

 and third groups is naturally not sharp, and in many of the cases described 

 in Group 2 signs of infantilism were discernible. For convenience of 

 description, however, it is useful to segregate the cases in which, in spite 

 of the process of "acromegalization" of the infantile giant, signs of in- 

 fantilism remain conspicuous. 



Launois and Eoy illustrate this group by the case of the giant Con- 

 stantin, described by themselves and Dufrane. An uncle was said to 

 measure 203 cm. Constantin measured 104 cm. at 14 years arid then 

 grew at the rate of 15 cm. yearly until he reached 259 cm. He developed 

 symmetrical gangrene of the legs, both of which finally were amputated. 

 He died at 29 years of age. The infantile features were : 1. Dispropor- 

 tionate length of the lower extremities. 2. Open epiphyseal lines in femur 

 and humerus with complete separation at the upper end of the latter. 3. 

 Undeveloped genital function and hypoplastic genitalia. The following 

 findings proved the existence of acromegaly: (1) marked prognathism, 

 (2) large hands and feet, (3) prominent malar bones, (4) enormous sella 

 turcica and hypophysis. The authors point out that for years he was a 

 typical infantile giant, and remained infantile as far as the extremities 

 were concerned, as they continued to grow until death, while during the 

 last few years of his life the head assumed characteristic acromegalic 

 characters. 



Such a transformation was also discernible in the giant Simon Botis, 

 reported by Buday and Jansco in the greatest detail as to measurements 

 and post-mortem findings. He measured 198 cm. at 35 years and 202 

 cm', when he died at 37 years. His sexual function was very active at 

 17 years, but impotence set in at 20. He then measured 163 cm. and 

 began to grow rapidly, Some years later acromegalic changes in the 



