The effect of lisuride hydrogen maleate in the hyperprolactinaemia-amenorrhoea syndrome: clinical and hormonal responses.

Eleven women with secondary amenorrhoea and hyperprolactinaemia were treated with lisuride, a new semisynthetic ergot derivative. Acute administration of lisuride (100 microgram orally) significantly suppressed serum prolactin (PRL) levels in nine out of eleven subjects. In these nine patients, prolonged treatment with lisuride (50--200 microgram daily) lowered PRL levels into the normal range, menstrual cycles were resumed and eight patients ovulated. Two patients, in whom lisuride failed to lower PRL levels into the normal range, did not resume normal menstruation. These data demonstrate that lisuride may be used clinically to lower PRL levels and to restore cyclic gonadotrophin secretion and ovulation in amenorrhoeic patients with hyperprolactinaemia.