Is hyperprolactinemia the main cause of infertility?

Abstract

Hyperprolactinemia probably is one of infertility causes. Its incidence is 20% in infertile patients. In this study importance of hyperprolactinema was studied. Importance of hyperprolactinemia as a primary factor of infertility, is uncertain. We studied 500 infertile women in infertility center of Shariati hospital. Prevalence of hyperprolactinemia was 19%. Hyperprolactinemia as a sole cause of infertility was found in only 0.8%. There was a good correlation between galactorrhea and hyperprolactinemia (P=0.00007). Galactorrhea is not a screening test for hyperprolactinemia (sensivity=25%), but its specifity is high (91%). If we omit prolactin assay for patients without galactorrhea, we will miss primary cause of infertility in probably 0.1% of patients, so we find that performing prolactin assay for patients without galactorrhea is under question. Subpopulation of infertile patients with hyperprolactinemia are not different with infertile population in mean age (P=0.09), mean duration of infertility (P=0.28) and type of infertility. We suggest that hyperprolactinemia is not a primary or sole factor of infertility

Keywords

• Hyperprolactinemia