Kallmann syndrome in a 17-year-old boy

Aim. To describe a rare hereditary disease — Kallmann syndrome — in a 17-year-old boy.

Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of anamnestic information, the course of the disease, laboratory and instrumental data and treatment of a 17-year-old patient with Kallmann syndrome was carried out. The patient underwent treatment in a gastroenterological department of the Children’s Regional Clinical Hospital in Krasnodar in March 2019.

Results. Patient K., 17 years old, was admitted to the gastroenterological department of the Children’s Regional Clinical Hospital in March 2019 with complaints of weakness, nausea, “hungry” abdominal pain and decreased appetite. Upon examination, the child revealed duodenal ulcer. However, an in-depth examination found that the boy was lagging behind in physical and sexual development. In this connection, an endocrinological examination was performed, which discovered: a decrease in the concentration of sex hormones relative to the age norm (luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, testosterone), delayed bone age as compared to the passport age, discrepancy between the testicular size and the patient’s age, olfactory bulb hypoplasia according to brain MRI, 1st degree smell disorder, the presence of a mutation in the KAL1 gene. The boy was diagnosed with: Kallmann syndrome, X-linked recessive inheritance. Complications: hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. The chosen treatment included prolonged testosterone esters for parenteral administration of 250 mg once per 3–4 weeks. Following 6 months of therapy, positive signs were observed: an increase in height by 2 cm, an increase in testicular volume by 3 ml, the appearance of single hairs at the base of the penis.

Conclusion. Kallmann syndrome is a rare pathology, whose main manifestations include delayed sexual development and hypo- or anosmia. For a timely diagnosis and treatment, it is of great importance to identify symptoms and conduct a comprehensive examination. Timely initiation of hormonal treatment allows puberty to occur in all cases, thus facilitating social and psychological adaptation of such patients. 

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