Find A Plastic Surgeon
Enter a zip code to speak to a surgeon that serves your area.
Compensatory Hypertrophy
The human body is an amazing creation. Just when someone faces a serious and life-changing medical condition, such as the loss of a kidney or a collapsed lung, the body may begin a period of accelerated growth in the unaffected complimentary organ. Though medical science has been unable to pinpoint the processes that trigger this excessive growth, it has been sufficiently documented. A number of growth factors are involved, often centered in hypertrophy, or an increase in cell division. Angiogenic growth factors, or increased blood flow, contributes to this phenomenon, as does an increase in the flow of hormones. This is just one aspect of cellular adaptation in response to negative changes in the body or a specific organ. In the case of compensatory hypertrophy, that adaptation is positive; however, in some cases that adaptation may be negative, such as when an organ or limb atrophies.
Fast Facts
- In some cases, such as when a patient loses a kidney, compensatory hypertrophy may accelerate the growth of the remaining kidney so that its mass equals that attained by both kidneys prior to the loss.
- The occurrence of hypertrophy is unpredictable, and medical science has yet to determine what triggers this process and how to stimulate it artificially.
