Changes in dopaminergic tonus have been hypothesized in patients with common migraine, suggesting that prolactin may play a role in the pathogenesis of the migraine. We investigated the prolactin response to domperidone, a dopamine receptor blocker. We tested 22 patients with common migraine (8 men, 7 women in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, and 7 women in the luteal phase), and 22 normal subjects adjusted for age, sex and phase of the menstrual cycle. Domperidone produced a significant rise of serum prolactin (p less than 0.01) in migrainous patients (7.77 +/- 3.09 vs 71.06 +/- 9.97 in men, 7.05 +/- 2.3 vs 129.58 +/- 14.15 in women in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, and 14.28 +/- 3.51 vs 169.71 +/- 16.63 in women in the luteal phase) and control subjects. The response did not show significant differences between migrainous patients and normal subjects. These data do not suggest changes in the tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic tonus in migrainous patients, in contrast to reports of other authors.
A 45-year-old woman was admitted suffering from headache, weight loss, asthenia, pedal edema, and amenorrhea. Morphological and functional studies revealed an intrasellar mass causing hypopituitarism without diabetes insipidus. Histological examination of the tissue obtained at transsphenoidal surgery was compatible with a diagnosis of sarcoidosis. The clinical and histological features, together with the presence of cutaneous anergy and ocular lesions, led to the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. The presentation of sarcoidosis in this patient was very unusual because it was not accompanied by characteristic intrathoracic findings or by diabetes insipidus.
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