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culature and strength. It was also when I got a glimpse of his enlarged genitals and pubic hair, which explained his extreme modesty. On a routine check of his eyes with an ophthalmoscope, I noticed something unusual about their anatomy. The pigment epithelium on the back surfaces glistened like that of a newborn's. Not only could he read the bottom lines on the eye chart, he could do it in the dark. In short, he has night vision significantly beyond the normal range. My first concern was that perhaps a tumor had developed in the pituitary region of his brain and was affecting the optic nerves. |
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"Last week, before he entered the hospital, I conducted a more thorough visual exam of Matty, and it was clear from the size and dark pigmentation of his testes and penis and the amount and distribution of pubic and axial hair that he was a grade five on the Tanner scale of puberty. Likewise, his blood workup showed very high readings of testosterone and other hormones, all supporting the suspicion of a tumor in the region of the pituitary gland, which secretes hormones. What had bothered me then was the elevation of several different hormones. A pituitary adenoma usually secretes a single hormone. We then called for an MRI the same day to look for any brain tissue changes." Mitch then opened a large envelope and took out photographic emulsions. "The results came back the day after we checked Matty into McLean's." He held the emulsions up to the light of the window. There were colored images of Matty's brain shot from different angles, but Terry could barely focus. |
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Mitch's pencil now pointed to a yellow blotch at the center of one image. "Compared to normal brain anatomy, there appear to be structural changes in the amygdala, the almond-shaped structure here that regulates hypothalamic activity and can bring on sudden violent behavior when stimulated or damaged." |
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"Are you saying there's no damage there?" Calvin asked. |
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"Not so much damage as hypertrophy," said Dr. Givens. "The amygdala is unusually large for a boy of Matty's age." |
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"Meaning what?" said Terry, afraid to ask and afraid not to. |
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"Well, we're not so sure," Dr. Givens said. "But we're certain there was no tumor, as first expected." He put his hand on another pile of envelopes. "Two days ago Dr. Hagan and I did an electrical study, an EEG, and a SPECT, which allows picturing of the meta- |
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