GYNECOMASTIA IN PARAPLEGIC MALES: REPORT OF SEVEN CASES

Abstract

Seven cases of gynecomastia occurring in young adult males were reported who were paraplegic due to spinal cord injuries. Four of the cases had bilateral and 3 had unilaterial breast enlargement. Two of the patients had an elevated F.S.H. urinary titer. The authors postulated that the breast enlargement in such cases may be on the basis of a Klinefelter-Reifenstein-Albright syndrome secondary to the spinal cord trauma, or that spinal cord transection may result in an adaptation syndrome with consequent hypopituitarism and an involvement of the pituitary-gonadic axis.