A new and useful tool for differentiating prolactinomas from non-functioning pituitary adenomas: a pilot study of the...

Clinical, imaging, and laboratory differentiation between non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) and prolactinomas can be challenging in clinical practice because of their similar presentation and eventual overlap in prolactin levels. The degree of prolactin suppression after a single low-dose cabergoline administration may be useful as a test to discriminate between these two clinical conditions and to determine the choice of therapy (dopamine agonist versus neurosurgery).

This retrospective cohort study included 19 patients with macroadenomas (11 NFPAs and 8 prolactinomas) whose prolactin levels were evaluated at baseline and 48 h after receiving a single dose of 0.25mg cabergoline. A receiver operating characteristic curve was generated for sensitivity and specificity analyses.

The baseline median prolactin level was 58ng/mL (range, 32.5-151.2ng/mL) in the NFPA Group, which was significantly lower than that observed in the Prolactinoma Group (733.7 [range, 180-6941ng/mL]) (p<0.001). After the cabergoline disconnection test, the NFPA Group exhibited a lower absolute prolactin level (p<0.001) and a higher percentage of prolactin reduction (p=0.004). The post-test prolactin level ≥26.3ng/mL had 100% sensitivity and specificity in identifying prolactinomas. When using the percentage of reduction, post-test prolactin reduction ≥85.6% had 54.5% sensitivity and 100% specificity to differentiate NFPAs from prolactinomas.

A single low-dose oral cabergoline is a fast and inexpensive test for use in daily clinical practice to discriminate between hyperprolactinemia due to NFPAs and prolactinomas, with high sensitivity and specificity.