Sir,
I read the interesting case report by Agarwal et al., with a great interest.[1] There are some additional discussions on this case. It is no doubt that “all gynecologists should consider galactorrhea even in women with normal serum prolactin.”[2] The interpretation of the serum prolactin level needs careful consideration. In laboratory medicine, the false negative in prolactin level determination can be expected. A high-dose hook effect in the PRL assay that leads to falsely low serum prolactin level is mentioned in some literatures.[3–6] The hook effect should be considered in any case with a large pituitary mass.[4] A pre-dilution preparation can help in solving this specific false negative problem.[3–6]
REFERENCES
- 1.Agarwal M, Das A, Singh SA. Hyperprolactinemia with normal serum prolactin: Its clinical significance. J Hum Reprod Sci. 2010;3:111–2. doi: 10.4103/0974-1208.69334. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Nahid E. Fertility Rate with bromocriptine in infertile women with galactorrhoea and normal prolactin level. Int Congr Ser. 2004;1271:22–5. [Google Scholar]
- 3.Schöfl C, Schöfl-Siegert B, Karstens JH, Bremer M, Lenarz T, Cuarezma JS, et al. Falsely low serum prolactin in two cases of invasive macroprolactinoma. Pituitary. 2002;5:261–5. doi: 10.1023/a:1025334001748. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Al Sifri SN, Raef H. The hook effect in prolactin immunoassays. Saudi Med J. 2004;25:656–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Frieze TW, Mong DP, Koops MK. “Hook effect” in prolactinomas: Case report and review of literature. Endocr Pract. 2002;8:296–303. doi: 10.4158/EP.8.4.296. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 6.St-Jean E, Blain F, Comtois R. High prolactin levels may be missed by immunoradiometric assay in patients with macroprolactinomas. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 1996;44:305–9. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2265.1996.663486.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
