The safety of bromocriptine in hyperprolactinaemic female infertility: a literature review.

The dopamine agonist bromocriptine has been widely used to facilitate pregnancy in hyperprolactinaemic women, with a success rate of 80% in relevant cases. Neither the inappropriate hyperprolactinaemia consequent upon bromocriptine withdrawal after conception nor the relative hypoprolactinaemia caused by treatment throughout gestation appears to affect adversely the course and outcome of pregnancy or the endocrine status of the fetus. No teratogenic effect of bromocriptine has been evidenced in humans, and no disturbances in the physical, psychomotor, and intellectual development of the offspring have been observed. Pituitary-tumor enlargement during closely supervised pregnancies very rarely leads to severe and irreversible complications; both the re-institution of bromocriptine treatment in the event of tumor enlargement and its preventive use throughout pregnancy have been shown to be effective measures. It is interesting, moreover, that a reduction of hyperprolactinaemia, compared with pregestational levels, may be seen after bromocriptine-facilitated pregnancies.