Comparison of the effects of cabergoline and bromocriptine in women with hyperprolactinemic amenorrhea

Objective: There are relatively few reports in the world comparing the beneficial and adverse effects of bromocriptine and cabergoline in the treatment of hyperprolactinemic patients and there is also lack of such studies in Iraq. Therefore, this study sets out to compare the efficacy and safety of cabergoline with those of bromocriptine in women with hyperprolactinemic amenorrhea in Mosul city. Design: Randomized, 8 - week period comparative trial. Setting: Al-Batool Teaching Hospital for Obstetric and Gynecology and the department of pharmacology, college of medicine in Mosul city. Materials and methods: One hundred and thirty women with hyperprolactinemic amenorrhea participated in the study. Women were treated with either cabergoline (0.5 mg weekly) or bromocriptine (2.5 mg twice daily) administered randomly for 8 weeks. Amenorrhea and galactorrhea and serum prolactin levels were assessed at baseline and at the end of the trial. Main Outcome measures: The efficacy of both treatments was assessed with the occurrence of menses, absence of galactorrhea and normalization of serum prolactin levels. Results: Amenorrhea persisted in 9 women of the cabergoline-treated women and 20 of the bromocriptine-treated women. Galactorrhea disappeared in the cabergoline group and persisted in 12 of the bromocriptine group. Normoprolactinemia was achieved in 87.7% women treated with cabergoline and in 67.7% of women treated with bromocriptine. Conclusions: Cabergoline and bromocriptine are effective in the treatment of hyperprolactinemic amenorrhea .Cabergoline has the advantage over bromocriptine in terms of both efficacy and tolerability and therefore it is preferred in the treatment of hyperprolactinemic amenorrhea.