Hyperprolactinaemia and the empty sella

Abstract

Hyperprolactinaemia is an endocrine abnormality seen not infrequently in the population with empty sella; a radiological and anatomical diagnosis of a deformed and enlarged sella turcica. Often there is no associated pathology within the pituitary gland itself, lending to the hypothesis that the empty sella syndrome per se has a yet-to-be defined role in hyperprolactinemia. We report a patient who presented initially with non-specific symptoms of meningeal irritation and viral illness on a long background of galactorrhoea. The patient demonstrated elevated serum prolactin, and a diagnosis of empty sella was made on the basis of MRI findings.