RENAL FUNCTION STUDIES AND AUTOPSY REPORT IN A PATIENT WITH GIGANTISM AND ACROMEGALY*†

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Abstract
IT IS generally accepted that hypersecretion of anterior pituitary growth hormone is the major factor in the production of gigantism and acromegaly. This assumption is supported by the fact that many of the abnormalities found in these patients can be reproduced in animals by injections of the hormone. These abnormalities include diabetes mellitus (1), arthritis (2), elevated level of plasma inorganic phosphate (3, 4), and increased body water (5, 6). In addition, a renotropic effect of the hormone has been demonstrated in dogs, in that glomerular filtration rate, renal blood flow, TmPAH (7), urea clearance and sulphate Tm (8) are increased. Glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow have been reported to be increased in acromegaly (9, 10), but to our knowledge there are no reports in which all the foregoing renal functions have been measured and correlated with observations at autopsy. This has prompted us to describe a case in which these measurements were made and in which autopsy revealed marked renal hypertrophy.