Pulsatile GnRH therapy – an alternative successful therapy for induction of ovulation in infertile normo- and hyperprolactinaemic amenorrhoeic women with pituitary tumours

Abstract

Abstract. Pulsatile treatment with gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) was given to induce ovulation in 3 infertile, amenorrhoeic women with pituitary tumours not suitable for conventional therapy with human gonadotrophins or dopamine agonists. Two of the women had prolactinomas and the third a non-secreting adenoma. The GnRH therapy resulted in ovulations in all the 3 women, in 2 of them despite marked hyperprolactinaemia. Two women conceived and had term pregnancies. One pregnancy was uneventful while the woman with the non-secreting tumour developed symptoms of raised intracranial pressure. These symptoms rapidly disappeared when bromocriptine therapy was instituted. Chronic pulsatile GnRH administration is an effective alternative treatment for induction of ovulation in some amenorrhoeic women with pituitary tumours.