NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Hyperprolactinemia is a relatively common cause of secondary amenorrhea in young women with menstruation irregularities, Korean researchers report in a December 19th on-line paper in The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
As Dr. DooSeok Choi told Reuters Health by email, “Hyperprolactinemia is not rare in young women with menstruation-related problems. This condition should be considered in the assessment of young women with menstrual problems, especially in cases of secondary amenorrhea.”
Intervention is not always needed, he added. “However, If menstrual irregularity caused by hyperprolactinemia bothers daily life or if ovarian function is suppressed, it requires treatment.”
Dr. Choi and colleagues at Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul note that adolescents often experience menstrual disturbances. Time resolves many, but evaluations for other etiologic factors, among them hyperprolactinemia, should be performed.
To examine the prevalence of the condition, the researchers studied 1,704 young women with menstruation-related problems. Amenorrhea was the most common problem, affecting 48.3%. Abnormal uterine bleeding was the next most frequent.
Hyperprolactinemia was an infrequent cause of primary amenorrhea in those aged 11 to 20 years (0.5%). None aged 21-30 years were thus affected.
However, hyperprolactinemia was a relatively common cause of secondary amenorrhea, affecting 5.5% of the younger group and 13.8% of the older patients.
In the adult group overall, the frequency and distribution of etiologies for adult-onset amenorrhea, hypothalamic suppression (47.4%), chronic anovulation (24.9%), hyperprolactinemia (13.8%) and, ovarian failure (12.5%) was similar to that previously reported.
In abnormal uterine bleeding, hyperprolactinemia was more common in the older than the younger group (9.4% versus 2.6%).
Prolactinomas were the etiological factor underlying secondary amenorrhea in 12.5% of the younger group and 47.5% of the older group.
The researchers thus conclude that the condition is relatively common in these young women and “and the prevalence varies according to age and manifestations.”
http://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378%2811%2902406-9/abstract
