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Case Reports
. 2012 Sep;16(5):833-5.
doi: 10.4103/2230-8210.100656.

Spontaneous reduction of prolactinoma post cabergoline withdrawal

Sampath Kumar Venkatesh  1 , Deepak Kothari, Smita Manchanda, Anil Taneja, Bindu Kulshreshtha
Affiliations
Case Reports

Spontaneous reduction of prolactinoma post cabergoline withdrawal

Sampath Kumar Venkatesh et al. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Sep.

Abstract

Prolactinomas are common pituitary tumors usually highly responsive to dopamine agonists. Around 70-90% of the prolactinomas exhibit decrease in tumor size, though variably with these agents. Uncommonly, there may be little or no shrinkage in pituitary tumor. In the absence of medical therapy, pituitary apoplexy may also result in tumor shrinkage, albeit rarely. We report here a case showing only modest reduction in prolactinoma with cabergoline given for a period of one and a half years. Surprisingly, this tumor showed a 40% reduction in the tumor size 3 months after cabergoline withdrawal in the absence of clinical or radiological evidence of apoplexy.

Keywords: Cabergoline withdrawal; prolactinoma; spontaneous involution.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Coronal T1 WI of sella reveals a hypointense mass lesion involving the right half of pituitary gland of size 13 × 10 mm
Figure 2
Figure 2
Follow-up MRI scan at 4 months reveals mild (15%) reduction in tumor size
Figure 3
Figure 3
MRI sella at 1 year interval shows no significant change
Figure 4
Figure 4
MRI scan (post cabergoline withdrawal) shows a significant (40%) reduction in tumor size
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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