Two-year treatment with oral contraceptives in hyperprolactinemic patients

The aim of this prospective study was the follow-up for 2 years in symptoms, serum prolactin (PRL) levels, and radiological aspects of a group of young patients using oral contraceptives (OC) with hyperprolactinemia. A total of 16 hyperprolactinemic women (eight with idiopathic hyperprolactinemia and eight with pituitary microadenoma) who started OC use were admitted in the study. After 2 years of OC use, the assessable patients showed a nonsignificant decrease in plasma PRL level (26.8 +/- 29.4 micrograms/mL, range 4.2-97.1 micrograms/mL vs 56.3 +/- 31.5 micrograms/mL, range 23.5-144 micrograms/mL). No patient experienced any radiological changes during OC treatment. In conclusion, although the number of observations is limited, the data suggest that after 2 years of follow-up, no harmful effect of OC use was observed in these patients.