Pituitary Apoplexy and Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist in Breast Cancer

Katherine Mastandrea, Mihail Voica, Maryam Tetlay, Farhad Hasan
JCEM Case Reports, Volume 1, Issue 3, May 2023, luad069
https://doi.org/10.1210/jcemcr/luad069

Abstract

Pituitary apoplexy is a potentially fatal clinical condition that results from pituitary infarction due to ischemia or hemorrhage. We present a case of a 53-year-old female patient with a history of recurrent pituitary macroadenoma who presented with headache, blurry vision, nausea, vomiting, and photophobia after receiving a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist, leuprolide, as part of adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed the presence of pituitary apoplexy, and endocrine workup showed anterior hypopituitarism. The patient was managed conservatively and required glucocorticoid replacement. A repeat MRI after 3 months showed a partially empty sella. A review of the literature revealed that this case adds to the growing number of patients who present with headache, visual symptoms, and symptoms related to meningeal irritation after administration of GnRH agonists, with varying latency from treatment to symptom onset. Although there are other cases involving female patients or patients with known pituitary macroadenomas, to our knowledge, this is the first reported case of pituitary apoplexy in a patient receiving a GnRH agonist as an adjuvant for breast cancer. Physicians should be aware of this rare complication of GnRH agonist therapy in patients with a pituitary macroadenoma.

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