Acromegaly

Alternative names:

hyperpituitarism

Symptoms:

• enlarged hands
• enlarged feet
• widened fingers or toes due to skin overgrowth with swelling, redness, and pain.
• enlarged jaw (prognathism)
• enlarged facial bones
• thickening of the skin
• enlarged sebaceous glands
• hoarseness
• headache
• double vision
• vomiting
• easy fatigue
• excessive sweating
• decreased muscle strength (weakness)
• motion limitation, or loss of range of motion
• joint pain (hip pain, knee pain, ankle pain, foot pain, pain over the small joints of the foot, shoulder pain, elbow pain, wrist pain, hand pain, pain over the small joints of the hand, or pain in any other joint)
• carpal tunnel syndrome
• change in face appearance, developed over less than 1 year
• widely spaced teeth
• swelling of the bony areas around a joint

In infants anterior fontanel can remain open for years.

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• weight gain (unintentional)
• tongue problems
• skin, abnormally dark or light
• hair, excessive on females

Signs and tests:

• The level of growth hormone is abnormal.
• A spine x-ray shows periosteal bone growth.
• A cranial MRI or cranial CT scan is abnormal and may show pituitary tumor.

This disease may also alter the results of the following tests:

• glucose test
• creatinine
• creatinine - urine
• 17-ketosteroids
• 17-hydroxycorticosteroids