The association between pituitary adenomas and chronic anovulation syndrome.

A cohort of 487 patients with chronic anovulation syndrome diagnosed between January 1, 1970, and January 1, 1980, were followed up to determine the frequency of pituitary adenomas among them. Of the 487 patients, four (0.8%) had pituitary adenoma. This compares with an expected number of 0.42, yielding a relative risk of 9.5 (95% confidence interval, 2.6 to 24.3). Within this cohort, the prevalence rate was 2.7% for galactorrhea and 3.3% for hyperprolactinemia. The prevalence rate of abnormal radiologic findings was 6.4% for roentgenography of the sella, 25.4% for sellar tomography, and 14.7% for computed tomography. In addition, 15 patients with pituitary adenomas and 60 control subjects were compared for prior anovulation syndrome. The relative risk of pituitary adenomas for patients with chronic anovulation syndrome in this case-control study was 24.3 (95% confidence interval, 4.9 to 120.6).