Sultan Kosen, world's tallest man, stops growing after pioneering treatment

Sultan Kosen stops growing

Sultan Kosen, the tallest man in the world, appears to have stopped growing following treatment at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

In May 2010, 29-year-old Kosen of Turkey, who is 8 feet and 3 inches tall, made his first visit to the hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he was treated by endocrinologist Dr. Mary Lee Vance who placed him on a new medication that could potentially help control the production of growth hormone and stop his continued growth.

Kosen is suffering from acromegaly, which is usually caused by a tumor in the pituitary gland that causes a large amount of growth hormone to be produced, which can lead to gigantism if the excess growth hormone is produced before puberty begins.

"Treating someone 8 feet 3 inches tall is no different from treating someone 5 feet 10 inches tall," Dr. Vance says. "The important thing is to stop the production of the excess growth hormone."

Kosen also underwent a Gamma Knife radiosurgery, a noninvasive procedure that delivers focused beams of radiation guided by MRI to a specific spot in a patient’s body – in this case, Kosen’s pituitary tumor. It was performed by neurosurgeon Dr. Jason Sheehan in August 2010.

About three months ago, Kosen’s doctors in Turkey told Dr. Sheehan that Kosen has ceased to grow.

"The treatments that we provided at the University of Virginia have stopped the production of his excess growth hormone and stopped the growth of the tumor itself," Dr. Sheehan says.

Dr. Sheenan added: "I’m most pleased that we were able to help Sultan. If he had continued to grow, it would have been life-threatening." -NoypiStuff

Photo courtesy of DamnCoolPictures.com