Causes of Hyperprolactinemia
Cause | Example |
|---|---|
Physiologic | Early infancy (up to 3 months) Food ingestion Nipple stimulation in adult females Pregnancy Postpartum period Sexual intercourse in some adult females Sleep Stress |
Hypothalamic disorders | Head trauma Hypothalamic tumors Idiopathic galactorrhea (presumed abnormality in dopamine secretion) Nontumerous hypothalamic infiltration: Sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, Langerhans cell histiocytosis Postencephalitis |
Pituitary disorders | Prolactin-secreting pituitary tumors Surgical pituitary stalk section and other stalk lesions Tumors causing pituitary stalk compression |
Other endocrine disorders | Primary hypothyroidism |
Disorders of other systems | Ectopic production of prolactin: Bronchogenic carcinoma (not squamous cell; mostly small cell undifferentiated) Liver disease |
Chest wall lesions | Surgical scars Trauma Tumors |
Pharmacologic | Antihypertensive medications: Alpha-methyldopa, atenolol, clonidine, labetalol, verapamilAntihypertensive medications: Alpha-methyldopa, atenolol, clonidine, labetalol, verapamil H2-antagonists Oral contraceptives and estrogens Opioids Psychoactive medications, eg, benzamides (metoclopramide), butyrphenones (haloperidol), phenothiazines, tricyclic and some other antidepressants, antipsychotics Psychoactive medications, eg, benzamides (metoclopramide), butyrphenones (haloperidol), phenothiazines, tricyclic and some other antidepressants, antipsychotics Thyrotropin-releasing hormone |
Data from Rebar RW: Practical evaluation of hormonal status. In Reproductive Endocrinology: Physiology, Pathophysiology and Clinical Management, edited by SSC Yen and RB Jaffe. Philadelphia, WB Saunders Company, 1978, p. 493. | |