[Gigantism: a mystery explained].

Acromegaly was first described by Pierre Marie in 1886. Some years later, it became clear that acromegaly and gigantism share the same etiology: GH hypersecretion due to a pituitary adenoma, induces gigantism if already present during puberty, or an acromegalic if it appears only during the adulthood. During the XXth century, the disease has been well described and is now well controlled with several treatments. Recently, genetic alterations responsible for the disease have been elucidated.