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Pituitary Apoplexy During Therapy with Cabergoline in an Adolescent Male with Prolactin-Secreting Macroadenoma

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Abstract

Pituitary adenomas are rare in young patients. Prolactinomas are the most common type of pituitary adenomas in children older than 12 years, occurring more often in girls, at a 4.5:1 female-to-male ratio. The clinical presentation may vary according to the age and sex of the patient. Pituitary apoplexy is a rare life-threatening condition caused by a sudden infarction or hemorrhagic necrosis of the pituitary containing an adenoma. A wide variety of conditions can trigger apoplexy such as pituitary irradiation, general anesthesia, traumatic head injury, pituitary stimulatory tests and a wide variety of medications including bromocriptine. We report a case of a 16-year-old male patient with puberty arrest harboring a macroprolactinoma, who developed a sudden clinical picture of pituitary apoplexy during the 12th month of treatment with cabergoline.

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Correspondence to Mirta Knoepfelmacher.

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Knoepfelmacher, M., Gomes, M.C., Melo, M.E. et al. Pituitary Apoplexy During Therapy with Cabergoline in an Adolescent Male with Prolactin-Secreting Macroadenoma. Pituitary 7, 83–87 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11102-005-5349-x

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