IN 1942 Klinefelter, Reifenstein and Albright (1) described a syndrome of male hypogonadism characterized by gynecomastia, aspermatogenesis without a-leydigism, and increased excretion of gonadotropic hormone. Emphasizing that breast development, hair growth, body build, and secondary sex organs might vary considerably with this testicular picture, Heller and Nelson (2) later expanded the concept of this syndrome to include all patients with small atrophic testes containing hyalinized tubules and clumped Leydig cells, azoospermia, and elevated urinary gonadotropins. This broader clinical concept has subsequently been accepted by Howard, Sniffen, Simmons and Albright (3). The present paper reports the autopsy of such a patient who had received no hormone therapy. The endocrine glands were examined by histologic and histochemical methods and the results related to descriptions in the literature of men whose testes fit Klinefelter's original description.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Burt et al. (1954) studied this question.