Sultan Kosen is eight feet three inches tall, and for the first time in his life, he knows that’s his maximum height.
Kosen, of Turkey, had acromegaly — a condition where a tumor caused his pituitary gland to produce excessive growth hormone. In May 2010, UVA endocrinologist Mary Lee Vance, MD, put Kosen on a new medication to slow his growth and stop growth hormone production.
Later that year, UVA neurosurgeon Jason Sheehan, MD, performed noninvasive Gamma Knife radiosurgery on Kosen.
The treatment proved effective: Three months ago, Kosen’s doctors in Turkey reported he’d stopped growing.
Still, Kosen remains listed as the World’s Tallest Man in Guinness World Records. And the 2012 edition cites UVA as the hospital that stopped his growth.
