Key Object Page

Gorlin Goltz

This skull is known in the collection as the Gorlin Goltz skull, however it was not previously known by this. The skull was studied by David Grieg and he thought it to have some form of deformity due to a form of acromegaly, which is a condition in which too much growth hormone is produced. This can result in large, prominent facial features, as well as abnormally large hands and feet. In addition to this it was noted that there was damage to the lower jaw, thought to be caused by inflammation caused by decaying teeth. There were also multiple growths on the face of the patient which was attributed to a type of skin cancer known as Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC). However, recent x-rays of the lower jaw revealed that the damage to the lower jaw was probably due to multiple cysts unrelated to tooth decay. In the 1960’s, Gorlin and Goltz described a genetic abnormality which caused multiple jaw cysts and recurrent BCC’s, as well as other skeletal deformities. It would appear that this is in fact what was wrong with this patient at the time; however it would not have been possible to diagnose the patient with this problem due to the lack of medical knowledge at the time.