Lubna Ehtizaz, Dilshad Ahmed Khan, Aamir Ijaz.
Frequency of macroprolactinemia in hyperprolactinemic patients in the clinical practice at Rawalpindi.
Pak J Pathol Jan ;28(1):39-45.

Objective: To determine the frequency of macroprolactinemia in hyperprolactinemic patients, referred for fertility profile to a tertiary care medical setup at Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out at the department of chemical pathology and endocrinology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) Rawalpindi. All adult patients of aged 20-50 years of either sex referred for fertility profile including serum prolactin level (PRL > 360mIu/l in males and > 530mIu/l in females) were consecutively included in the study. The serum of these patients were reanalyzed after PEG precipitation. The prolactin recovery (R% value) was calculated as: (R %) = Prolactin in supernatant / total Prolactin x 100. A recovery (R%) of value < 40 % of prolactin was considered as macroprolactinemia (MPRL). Results: Total of 187 patients were labeled as hyperprolactinemic patients, having serum PRL levels above the reference range. Thirty-six pregnant females and with a history of drug intake affecting prolactin levels were excluded. Out of 151 hyperprolactinemic patients, 31 (20.5%) patients had MPRL and 120 (79.5%) true hyperprolactinia (THPRL) after PEG precipitation. Macroprolactinemic patients included 25females (81 %) and 6 males (19 %). Most of the female patients belonged to age group 18-30 years (61.3 %). The serum PRL levels mean+ SD were higher in THPRL 1171.1 +- 914.20 as compared with MPRL 857.90 +- 515 (p=0.014).Conclusion: Total of 187 patients were labeled as hyperprolactinemic patients, having serum PRL levels above the reference range. Thirty-six pregnant females and with a history of drug intake affecting prolactin levels were excluded. Out of 151 hyperprolactinemic patients, 31 (20.5%) patients had MPRL and 120 (79.5%) true hyperprolactinia (THPRL) after PEG precipitation. Macroprolactinemic patients included 25 females (81 %) and 6 males (19 %). Most of the female patients belonged to age group 18-30 years (61.3 %). The serum PRL levels mean+ SD were higher in THPRL 1171.1 +- 914.20 as compared with MPRL 857.90 +- 515 (p=0.014).

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