Acromegaly history and symptoms

Symptoms
Features that result from high level of hGH or expanding tumor include:
 * Soft tissue swelling of the hands and feet
 * Brow and lower jaw protrusion
 * Enlarging hands
 * Enlarging feet
 * Arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome
 * Teeth spacing increase
 * Macroglossia [enlarged tongue]
 * Heart failure
 * Kidney failure
 * Compression of the optic chiasm leading to loss of vision in the outer visual fields (typically bitemporal hemianopia)
 * Headache
 * Diabetes mellitus
 * Hypertension
 * Enlarging heart
 * Increased palmar sweating and sebum production over the face (seborrhea) are clinical indicators of active growth hormone (GH) producing pituitary tumours. These symptoms can also be used to monitor the activity of the tumour after surgery although biochemical monitoring is confirmatory.

(Image courtesy of Charlie Goldberg, M.D., UCSD School of Medicine and VA Medical Center, San Diego, California)