Part of “CHAPTER 13 – PROLACTIN AND ITS DISORDERS“

The amenorrhea-galactorrhea syndrome is the classic description of the clinical manifestation of hyperprolactinemia. However, a spectrum of reproductive disorders may be seen. Prolactin elevations are found in approximately 20% of patients with secondary amenorrhea.35 Women with hyperprolactinemia may have more subtle abnormalities in gonadal function, including oligomenorrhea or alterations in luteal phase function. A subset of infertile women has been described with mild hyperprolactinemia in whom fertility was restored with bromocriptine therapy. Galactorrhea affects only ˜30% of female patients with hyperprolactinemia, but the presence of galactor-rhea in a woman with an ovulatory disorder greatly increases the chance that hyperprolactinemia is the underlying cause of the amenorrhea.36 Patients with primary amenorrhea and delayed puberty may have hyperprolactinemia.37