What condition results from excessive secretion of growth hormone before puberty?

Gigantism is the condition that arises from excessive secretion of growth hormone before puberty. This is primarily due to a benign tumor on the pituitary gland, known as an adenoma, which leads to an overproduction of growth hormone.

Before puberty, the epiphyseal plates (growth plates) of the long bones are still open. When growth hormone levels are abnormally high during this stage, it stimulates excessive growth of bones and tissues. As a result, individuals may experience markedly increased height as well as other changes in their body proportions, leading to the characteristic features of gigantism.

In contrast, acromegaly occurs when excessive growth hormone is produced after puberty, leading to the thickening of bones and soft tissues rather than an increase in height. Hypopituitarism refers to a deficiency of one or more pituitary hormones, which would not be related to excessive secretion of growth hormone, and hyperpituitarism generally describes a state of increased hormone production from the pituitary gland but doesn't specify the growth hormone impact or the timing before puberty. Hence, the defining characteristic of gigantism is the growth effects stemming from excess growth hormone during the critical growth stages before the closure of the growth plates.