macroprolactinoma in a postmenopausal woman: a case report

K. Gorgi*^a (Dr), S. Chakdoufi^a (Dr), Y. Errahali^a (Dr), AA. Guerboub^a (Prof)

^a Endocrinologie, Rabat, MOROCCO

* Khaoulagorgi@gmail.com

Introduction:

Prolactinomas are more common in young and fertile women, but rarely diagnosed after menopause, they are usually large and invasive, its clinical picture may be confused with that of menopause making its diagnosis difficult.

We report the case of a postmenopausal patient with a macroprolactinoma.

Observation:

A 70-year-old female patient, menopausal for 20 years, who consulted for headaches associated with a decrease in visual acuity.

Clinical examination found bilateral provoked galactorrhoea, visual field with amputated finger.

A workup was ordered in favor of hyperprolactinemia at 1200 pg/L, a hypothalamic-pituitary MRI was also ordered in favor of an invasive pituitary macroadenoma of 30 × 26 × 40 mm.

The patient was put on cabergoline, The evolution after 3 months of treatment was marked by regression of headaches, decrease of prolactinemia and tumor size.

Discussion / Conclusion:

Prolactinomas are rarely found in postmenopausal women and often silent, this can be explained by hypo-oestrogenism and the fact that they are often confused with the clinical picture of menopause. Therefore, the true incidence of prolactinomas in postmenopausal women is unknown.

Cabergoline appears to be an effective treatment in improving visual prognosis, and tumor size.

Reference:

Ilan Shimon , Marcello D Bronstein, Jonathan Shapiro, Gloria Tsvetov, Carlos Benbassat, Ariel Barkan Women with prolactinomas presented at the postmenopausal period

The author has declared no conflict of interest.