an icepick through the keyhole

We describe the unique case of a public figure who is well known for having delayed pubertal development and statural growth (Fig. 1). We believe we have discovered why Tintin, the young reporter whose stories were published between 1929 and 1975, never grew taller and never needed to shave.

We do not know Tintin's perinatal history. According to Hergé, the author of these stories, Tintin was 14 or 15 years old when he was created.1 He would, therefore, have been at least 60 years old during his final adventure with the Picaros.2 In that book, even though he had reached adulthood, Tintin has no beard or grey hair, and he exhibits no signs of pubertal development.

Recent literature has helped us gain a better understanding of the pathophysiology of hypopituitarism resulting from repeated head trauma.3 We believe that the multiple traumas Tintin sustained could be the first case of traumatic pituitary injury described in the literature.