Prolactin-Secreting Pituitary Tumors in Amenorrheic Women: A Comprehensive Study*

DURING the past decade, advances in diagnostic methods have changed the amenorrhea-galactorrhea syndrome from a relative medical curiosity to a well recognized and frequently diagnosed disorder. Before the availability of a radioimmunoassay for prolactin (PRL) and sophisticated radiographic methods, patients with amenorrhea-galactorrhea were characterized by eponymic designations. The spectrum of patients now recognized as having hyperprolactinemia and PRL-secreting tumors includes postpartum amenorrhea-galactorrhea described by Chiari et al. (1) and Frommel (2), spontaneous amenorrhea-galactorrhea described by Argonz and del Castillo (3), and the amenorrhea-galactorrhea syndrome with evidence of a pituitary tumor on conventional skull x-rays described by Forbes et al. (4). The refinement of the transsphenoidal surgical approach to exploration of the sella turcica and the knowledge that amenorrheagalactorrhea and infertility can be reversed by selective surgical excision of a pituitary tumor has created n...