Pituitary Adenomas: Possible Role of Bromocriptine in Intratumoral Hemorrhage’

Magnetic resonance (MR) images of 68 patients examined for adenomas of the pituitary gland were retro-spectively reviewed for the presence of hypenintensity on Ti-weighted images because of recent reports suggesting that bromocniptine treat-ment may affect Ti values. Twenty-seven patients were examined after either surgery or radiation therapy, 29 were receiving bromocriptine, and 22 had not received any treat-ment at the time of MR imaging. MR imaging criteria showed evi-dence of subacute or chronic intra-tumoral hemorrhage in 18 patients, five of whom had hemorrhage proved at surgery. Ten of the 18 pa-tients were asymptomatic from the hemorrhage; eight had headaches, visual field cuts, or cranial nerve deficits. Although an increased fre-quency of intratumoral hemorrhage was noted in prolactinomas and macroadenomas and in patients un-dergoing bromocniptine therapy, the effect of bromocniptine on bleeding was the only significant correlation (P <.01)