J Neurol Surg B Skull Base 2022; 83(S 02): e49-e53
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1722665
Original Article

Changes in the Options for Management of Prolactin Secreting Pituitary Adenomas

Sherry L. Iuliano
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
,
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
,
Edward R. Laws Jr
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
› Author Affiliations
Funding None.

Abstract

Objectives Initial therapy for the management of prolactinomas has long been maintained to be medical, consisting of a dopamine agonist. These therapies may have troublesome side effects, and some prolactinomas are resistant to medical therapy regarding lowering prolactin levels or shrinking the tumor. These issues have revived interest in surgery for prolactin-secreting adenomas as an early therapeutic option. We report our analysis of surgery for prolactin microadenomas in women, using the transsphenoidal endoscopic approach.

Design We reviewed a contemporary series of 33 women (mean age = 31.8 years) with microprolactinomas who underwent early surgical intervention, which was a three-dimensional transnasal transsphenoidal endoscopic operation.

Setting The study was conducted at a tertiary academic referral center for pituitary tumors.

Main Outcome Measures Preoperative and postoperative prolactin.

Results Overall, 28 patients had received preoperative dopamine agonists, 24 of these experienced a variety of drug-related side effects, and 4 had tumors that were resistant to lowering prolactin or tumor shrinkage. Preoperative prolactin levels averaged 90.3 ng/mL (range = 30.7–175.8 ng/mL). We observed a 94% normalization rate in postoperative prolactin (mean = 10.08 ng/mL, range = 0.3–63.1 ng/mL). During the follow-up (mean = 33.9 months), five patients had elevated prolactin; four required reinitiation of medical therapy, two had surgical reexploration, and none received radiation therapy. Complications included syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (n = 3), transient diabetes insipidus (n = 1), postoperative epistaxis (n = 1), and fat graft site infection (n = 1).

Conclusion This review supports the consideration of transsphenoidal surgery as an early intervention for some women with prolactin-secreting microadenoma. Indications include significant side effects of medical therapy and tumors that do not respond to standard medical management.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. This study was approved by the institutional review board of the Brigham and Women's Hospital.




Publication History

Received: 26 July 2020

Accepted: 01 November 2020

Article published online:
18 February 2021

© 2021. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 
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