Prolactinoma Definition, Reason, Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention
Definition
Prolactinoma is a benign tumor found in the pituitary gland and causes excessive prolactin hormone production.
The pituitary gland is an organ that produces various hormones in the body. Meanwhile, prolactin is a hormone that stimulates the breasts to secrete breast milk (ASI). Normally, prolactin levels will increase when a mother is breastfeeding.
Prolactinoma Symptoms
Symptoms of prolactinoma in men and women can be different. In women, the symptoms that generally appear are menstrual disorders. This menstrual disorder can be in the form of menstrual volume that becomes scanty or no menstruation at all. In addition, other signs that can also occur are milk coming out of the breast, even though you are not pregnant or breastfeeding. Another disorder is infertility.
Meanwhile, in men, prolactinoma usually causes erectile dysfunction. In addition, both women and men can experience visual disturbances (impaired field of view) and loss of sexual desire.
Prolactinoma Reason
Until now, the exact cause of prolactinoma is unknown. But there are various other conditions, outside of breastfeeding, that can cause the hormone prolactin to increase. Some of them are:
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Side effects of certain drugs such as haloperidol, risperidone, metoclopramide
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Pituitary tumor
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Hypothyroidism (lack of thyroid hormone)
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Nipple stimulation
Diagnosis
If there is suspicion that a person has a prolactinoma, the doctor will advise the person to check the level of the prolactin hormone in the blood. If the prolactin level in the body exceeds normal levels, the doctor will generally recommend a thyroid hormone examination and an MRI of the head.
The MRI examination was carried out to see the possibility of a prolactinoma tumor and determine its size. Apart from MRI, a head CT scan can also be done.
If there is a prolactinoma, the doctor usually then performs an eye examination to assess whether there is visual field disturbance. This needs to be done because a large prolactinoma will generally interfere with the visual nerves in the brain.
Prolactinoma Treatment
The goal of prolactinoma treatment is to reduce prolactin hormone levels to normal levels, reduce tumor size, improve vision problems, and restore the function of the pituitary gland in producing various hormones.
Some of the treatment measures for prolactinoma are:
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Administration of drugs
Drugs that stimulate dopamine, such as bromocriptine and cabergoline, can inhibit the production of the hormone prolactin. These drugs can help reduce the size of the prolactinoma tumor and return prolactin levels to normal.
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Surgery
If treatment with bromocriptine or cabergoline does not reduce prolactin levels, then surgery should be considered. This surgery is performed by a neurosurgeon. The success of the operation also depends on the size of the tumor. The bigger and wider the tumor, the higher the level of difficulty.
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Radiation
Radiation is usually done as a complement to surgery. It can also be done as an alternative therapy if drugs and surgery cannot treat prolactinoma. Radiation cannot get rid of the tumor but only reduces the size of the prolactinoma tumor.
Prevention
Because the cause is unknown, until now there is no prolactinoma prevention that can be done.