The diagnostic value of routine prolactin determination in sterility patients

: In the year 1976 an expert group of the WHO recommended to determine serum-prolactin routinely at the beginning of any infertility work-up. We investigated whether this recommendation is still tenable. Serum-prolactin was determined in 292 patients of an infertility clinic. In 33 women serum-prolactin exceeded the upper limit of the norm (600 microIE/ml). In 11/33 cases only, hyperprolactinemia was found to persist. This shows that the routine determination of prolactin in such cases appears to be of questionable value.