Bromocriptine in hyperprolactinemic amenorrhea: a possible early effect on ovarian steroidogenesis.

The effect of bromocriptine was studied in a 28-year-old cretin woman who presented with long-term untreated primary hypothyroidism, primary amenorrhea, hyperprolactinemia, and an enlarged pituitary fossa. Bromocriptine therapy lowered the plasma prolactin and caused an early rise in plasma 17 beta-estradiol levels and uterine bleeding, despite the failure of plasma gonadotrophins to respond to luteinizing hormone release hormone (LHRH) administration. Thus, it is suggested that bromocriptine may have an early direct effect on the ovary in hyperprolactinemic amenorrhea.