Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with prolactin-secreting pituitary adenoma in an adolescent: A case report
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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Three-dimensional Alginate-bead Culture of Human Pituitary Adenoma Cells
Published on: February 18, 2016
Yugo Takaki1, Tatsuki Mizuochi, Junko Nishioka
1Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan.
Rationale:
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), among the commonest chronic liver disorders in children and adolescents, is considered a reflection of the current obesity epidemic in children and adults. This liver disease has been linked with various metabolic disorders, but not with prolactinoma (PRLoma).
Patient Concerns:
A 13-year-old Japanese girl manifested obesity, serum transaminase and γ-glutamyltransferase elevations, and amenorrhea. Abdominal ultrasonography showed fatty liver. Her serum prolactin concentration was elevated, and cranial magnetic resonance imaging showed a pituitary mass consistent with macroadenoma.
Diagnoses:
NAFLD and PRLoma.
Interventions And Outcomes:
After the patient's NAFLD failed to respond to diet and exercise, cabergoline treatment of the PRLoma decreased body weight, serum transaminase and γ-glutamyltransferase elevations, and ultrasonographic fatty liver grade as the tumor became smaller.
Lessons:
Physicians should consider the possibility of PRLoma when diet and exercise fail to improve fatty liver disease in a patient with endocrine symptoms such as amenorrhea.
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