Bromocriptine treatment of postoperative prolactinoma patients.
BACKGROUND
Prolactinoma is the leading cause of pituitary adenoma. It causes amenorrhea in women and impotence in men. Surgical and bromocriptine treatment are the mainstays of therapy in most of the patients with this disease. Determining the outcome for postoperative hyperprolactinemia patients who received bromocriptine treatment was the main purpose of this study.


METHODS
Thirty-two patients who received operation for prolactinoma have been investigated. Twenty of them had received bromocriptine treatment before conception, 14 were diagnosed as having macroadenoma and all of them had post-operative hyperprolactinemia.


RESULTS
Five patients needed bromocriptine treatment of more than 12.5mg/day to decrease the serum prolactin level. Three patients received radiotherapy postoperatively. Other patients were bromocriptine sensitive. Eight of them had menses restored, and of these, five became pregnant.


CONCLUSIONS
Operation can successfully treat most of the patients with microadenoma. If there has postoperative hyperprolactinemia, bromocriptine treatment should be the first choice before radiotherapy.
Yang
D Y
DY
Division of Neurosurgery, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Wang
Y C
YC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001971:Bromocriptine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery; D015175:Prolactinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery
D001971:Bromocriptine