Abstract | OBJECTIVE: To help define the normal and pathological serum prolactin concentration ranges in adult females. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Serum prolactin was assayed in a mixed population of 4,199 women divided into five groups: ( A) 753 with normal menses consulting for infertility (control group); (B) 2,523 with menstrual disorders; (C) 519 with hirsutism and normal cycles; (D) 201 with galactorrhoea and normal cycles; (E) 203 with galactorrhoea and menstrual disorders. RESULTS: In each group, a separate subset (2%, 3%, 1%, 15%, and 42.3%, respectively) was distinguished, with scattered prolactin values above 30 ng/mL, in which 117 prolactinomas were found, with an incidence ranging from 11 to 57% in cases with prolactin of 31-49 ng/mL and from 65 to 87.5% in those with prolactin > or = 50 ng/mL. The frequency distribution of values from 1 to 30 ng/mL was strikingly similar in the 753 subjects of group A and the 2,523 patients of group B: 91% and 92.6%, respectively, between 1 and 15 ng/mL, and 5.5% and 4.7% from 16 to 20 ng/mL. Values > 20 ng/mL were found in 4.4% of the subjects in group A, 5.5% in group B, 5.1% in group C, 21.8% in group D, and 18.7% in group E. CONCLUSIONS: (a) Normal prolactin values can be considered to include 1-15 ng/mL and 16-20 ng/mL, the former corresponding to the vast majority of normal subjects or patients, and the latter being the extreme limit of normal, for which from a clinical point of view repetition of the assay and a follow-up is advocated. (b) Values between 21 and 30 are rare and could be considered as hyperprolactinemia necessitating further investigation. (c) Values between 31 and 49 are suspect, and values > or = 50 ng/mL are suggestive of the presence of a prolactinoma, warranting thorough investigation.
|
Authors | M L Batrinos, C Panitsa-Faflia, E Tsiganou, G Pitoulis, C Liapi |
Journal | International journal of fertility and menopausal studies
(Int J Fertil Menopausal Stud)
1994 Mar-Apr
Vol. 39
Issue 2
Pg. 120-7
ISSN: 1069-3130 [Print] United States |
PMID | 8012441
(Publication Type: Journal Article)
|
Chemical References |
|
Topics |
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Female
- Galactorrhea
(blood)
- Hirsutism
(blood)
- Humans
- Hyperprolactinemia
(diagnosis)
- Infertility, Female
(blood)
- Menstruation Disturbances
(blood)
- Pituitary Neoplasms
(blood, diagnosis)
- Prolactin
(blood)
- Prolactinoma
(blood)
- Reference Values
- Tomography, X-Ray Computed
|