Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Prolactinomas in Children and Adolescents: A Large Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors' conclusion
Pediatric prolactinomas exhibited more severe clinical characteristics in boys and in patients diagnosed during earlier stages of pubertal developments. Given the overall efficacy of PRL normalization by medication and considerable surgical remission rate in noninvasive tumors, DAs remain the first-line recommendation for prolactinomas in children and adolescents, while surgery might be viable for noninvasive tumors.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with prolactinomas aged ≤20 years at diagnosis, 2012–2021, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, China115 females · 55 males
- Participants
- 170 patients
- Outcome
- Clinical features and treatment outcomes
Methodological detailssingle-centre
- Single-centre
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Median age
- 16.6 years
- Girls without menarche
- 20.0% (23/115)
- Boys in prepuberty
- 33.3% (18/54)
- Median maximal diameter
- 15.0 mm
- Macroadenomas
- 61.2%
- Giant adenomas
- 4.6%
- Median baseline prolactin (PRL)
- 211.0 ng/mL
- Girls with menstrual disturbance
- 86.7%
- Boys with headaches
- 42.6%
- Boys with reduced height velocities
- 25.9%
- Boys with delayed puberty
- 18.2%
- Dopamine agonists as first-line treatment
- 133 patients
- DA resistance rate
- 22.5% (25/111)
- DA resistance independently associated with maximal tumor diameters
- P = .035
- Surgery performed
- 76 patients
- Long-term surgical remission, overall
- 32.9% (25/76)
- Surgical remission negatively associated with cavernous sinus invasion independently
- P = .025
- Surgical remission, noninvasive tumors
- 59.4% (19/32)
- Surgical remission, noninvasive macroadenomas (n=25)
- 64.0%
- Surgical remission, invasive tumors
- 5.0% (1/20)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Prolactinomas in Children and Adolescents: A Large Retrospective Cohort Study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. Published 2 January 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →