Doctors at Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (Victoria hospital campus) hospital were shocked a few days ago when a man with a height of 7.6 ft was brought to them. On diagnosis, it was discovered that his height was the result of a tumour in his brain that triggered abnormal growth. He had to walk barefoot, since his shoe size is 17.
Kumar, 32, a resident of Ramanagar taluk, had been growing abnormally since he was 18. His family members thought that it was a good sign. They did not know that the height was due to acromegaly, a rare disorder which results from a pituitary tumour that overproduces the growth hormone.
This condition often results in diabetes, hypertension, cardio myopia and problems of the optic nerves. When Kumar went to the hospital, his glucose level was close to 500 milligrams per decilitre against the norm of 90 to 120. He had to be given huge units of insulin. Kumar suffered from both gigantism and acromegaly. Dr Balaji Pai, Dr Vikas Naik, Dr Basavaraj Patil and Dr Naveen M A worked on the 3 cm tumour and removed it in an operation last week. Doctors say the surgery was challenging because of the size of the patient. Dr Pai says, “As he was unusually tall, we could not find a suitable bed. We then thought of having an extra attachment on which his legs could rest, and only then the surgery date was fixed. We had to get a new anaesthesia tube which is bigger than what we generally use.”
The patient is now recuperating in the ICU and his glucose level has gone down to a healthy 120 mg/dl. Kumar says that his condition was never a problem for him and he never thought it would be related to his health. “I did all my activities normally apart from struggling to get a shoe of my size. Now, one of my friends has said that he will get me some from abroad. I have been walking barefoot for years and have gotten used to it. My family and friends were so used to seeing me towering over them that they never thought it was a problem. Only when I came to the city, people looked at me like I was abnormal. I decided to go to the doctor when my sugar level went really high and I was advised to go to Victoria.”
