Summary
The frequency of hyperprolactinaemia was assessed in 608 consecutive patients (549 women and 59 men) in whom plasma prolactin was requested as part of investigation for various reproductive and endocrine disorders, including primary and secondary amenorrhoea, galactorrhoea, infertility, oligomenorrhoea, hirsutism, mastalgia, gynaecomastia, Klinefelter syndrome and thyroid disorders.
Of 29 hyperprolactinaemic patients investigated for infertility, 20 became pregnant after bromocriptine during an 18-month follow-up period. Of the 29 pregnancies, 5 ended in first-trimester abortion, 4 of these after bromocriptine treatment.
The detection rate of pituitary abnormalities by lateral skull X-rays in patients with hyperprolactinaemia was very low. Only 3 previously unsuspected radiological abnormalities of the sella turcica were detected among 151 hyperprolactinaemic patients.
No correlation was found between plasma prolactin and plasma folliclestimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone, oestradiol-17β, progesterone, and urinary ketogenic steroids and ketosteroids.
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Skrabanek, P., McDonald, D., de Valera, E. et al. Plasma prolactin in amenorrhoea, infertility, and other disorders: A retrospective study of 608 patients. IJMS 149, 236–245 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02939147
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02939147