Acromegaly is a chronic and slowly developing disease caused by hypersecretion of GH and consequently of IGF-I.
The spine, noticeably targeted by chronic GH excess, presents widened intervertebral spaces, vertebral enlargement, and osteophyte formation, which are caused by endocondral, marginal, and subligamentous growth of vertebral bone.
The hyperostotic changes may be so relevant as to resemble to those observed during the diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) syndrome.
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