The borderline pituitary fossa in patients with amenorrhoea and/or galactorrhoea

A retrospective clinicoradiological study of 80 patients with amenorrhoea and/or galactorrhoea showed: 1. Of 60 patients, in whom prolactin levels were estimated, 28 (47%) had hyperprolactinaemia (serum prolactin levels greater than 20 ng/ml). 2. Hyperprolactinaemia was present in 85% of patients with amenorrhoea and galactorrhoea, 35% of those with galactorrhoea only, and 12.5% of those with only amenorrhoea. 3. Pituitary adenomas were surgically removed from six patients; all but one had prolactin levels over 100 ng/ml. The level was 53 ng/ml in the sixth patient. 4. There is a considerable degree of observer variation in the interpretation of borderline sellar changes. 5. Minor abnormalities of the pituitary fossa were noted in 64% of patients with hyperprolactinaemia and 36% of those with normal prolactin levels. 6. The highest incidence of perfectly normal sellae was among patients with either amenorrhoea or galactorrhoea and normal serum prolactin.