Medical Therapy of Macroprolactinomas in Males: I. Prevalence of Hypopituitarism at Diagnosis. II. Proportion of Cases Exhibiting Recovery of Pituitary Function

Hyperprolactinaemia frequently causes secondary hypogonadism through central suppression of gonadotropin secretion. Macroprolactinomas (>1 cm diameter) are more common in males and may additionally cause more generalised hypopituitarism. Recovery of the thyrotropic and/or corticotropic axes is well described following selective adenomectomy, but remains poorly defined in relation to medical (dopamine-agonist) therapy of macroprolactinomas. We therefore performed a retrospective examination of case records of male patients who had received medical therapy alone for macroprolactinoma between 1980–2001 (n = 35) and in whom tumor shrinkage was documented by interval pituitary imaging (reported throughout by a single neuroradiologist).