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To the Editor,
We read with interest the profile of Dr. Ghorban and in particular, the care of his patient with gigantism, Mr. Siah Khan in Shiraz published by Dr. Najjari.1 The clinical history of Mr. Siah Khan is an interesting one for a number of reasons and was detailed by Dr. Ghorban in 1966.2 Mr. Siah Khan, it was noted, was born in 1912 into humble circumstances and was apparently normal until about the age of 6. Thereafter, he began to grow extremely rapidly, attaining adult height at the age of 9, and thereafter growing further to an exceptional height during his life (he died aged 38). From existing photographs in late adolescence and adulthood, Mr. Siah Khan can be seen to have a profoundly disfiguring form of acro-gigantism, with bony overgrowth affecting the head, upper arms and other sites.2 Dr. Ghorban illustrated these pathological findings in his description of the skeleton of Mr. Siah Khan, and Dr. Najjari provides a clear modern photograph of the assembled skeleton in his recent article.1,2
The pathological findings in this case of aggressive acromegalic gigantism, multiple sites...