Influence of pregnancy on the serum prolactin level following prolactinoma surgery

Abstract

Abstract. We studied the influence of pregnancy on the serum prolactin levels after surgery in 35 patients with prolactinomas. Eighteen out of 22 patients with postoperative normalization of the prolactin level were able to achieve repeated spontaneous pregnancies and endocrine cure by surgery alone, but the other 4 had recurrent hyperprolactinemia. Thirteen patients with persistent hyperprolactinemia after surgery achieved one pregnancy with or without bromocriptine treatment, but did not achieve a second one owing to an increase in the prolactin level after delivery. None of the patients with postoperative hyperprolactinemia showed spontaneous normalization of the prolactin level or restoration of menstruation after delivery. In these 13 patients, the mean increase from the postoperative to the post-delivery prolactin level was less for the patients with bromocriptine-induced pregnancy than for those with spontaneous pregnancy. It is concluded that pregnancy did not adversely affect the serum prolactin level in the patients with a normal post-operative level.