Acromegaly historical perspective

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief:

Overview

In 1567, Dr. Johannes Wier was the first to describe a case of a giant female patient. Dr. Wier described the course of acromegaly in this patient in his article. Dr. Wier mentioned that she was of normal stature then she began to increase in height and size at age of fourteen. However, she had a normal good life. Dr. Wier also linked between the acromegaly and amenorrhea in this patient.^[1]
In 1772, Dr. Nicolas Saucerotte reported a case which has a clinical presentation linked with acromegaly.^[2]
In 1864, Dr. Andrea Verga reported a case of acromegaly. Dr. Verga reported a patient whose disproportion big face.
In 1877, Dr. Brigidi reported a case of an actor who presented with chronic bone deformities. On examination, Dr. Bridgi observed large pituitary gland and it was the first description of pituitary adenoma. Dr. Bridgi then linked between the pituitary adenoma and the acromegaly.
In 1877, Dr. Henri Henrot also reported a case of acromegaly.
In 1884, Dr. Fritsche and Theodor Klebs also reported a case of acromegaly with pituitary adenoma.
In 1886, Dr. Pierre Marie named the disease as acromegaly. Dr. Marie reported a patient presented with hypertrophied extremities and he linked between this presentation and acromegaly.

In 1978, bromocriptine, a dopamine agonist, was used by Dr. G. Michael Besser to treat acromegaly. Dr. Besser used bromocriptine on some patients and it showed a remarkable improvement in most of the patients. A reduction in the growth hormone was also observed.^[3]