Pregnancy outcomes following cabergoline treatment: extended results from a 12-year observational study

  1. Annamaria Colao1,
  2. Roger Abs2,
  3. David González Bárcena3,
  4. Philippe Chanson4,
  5. Wolfgang Paulus5,
  6. David L. Kleinberg6

Article first published online: 18 JUL 2007

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2007.03000.x

Issue

Clinical Endocrinology

Clinical Endocrinology

Volume 68, Issue 1, pages 66–71, January 2008

Additional Information

How to Cite

Colao, A., Abs, R., Bárcena, D. G., Chanson, P., Paulus, W. and Kleinberg, D. L. (2008), Pregnancy outcomes following cabergoline treatment: extended results from a 12-year observational study. Clinical Endocrinology, 68: 66–71. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2007.03000.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Molecular and Clinical Endocrinology and Oncology, Section of Endocrinology, University Federico II of Naples, Naples, Italy,

  2. 2

    Department of Endocrinology, University Hospital Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium,

  3. 3

    Department of Endocrinology, UMAE, Centro Médico Nacional la Raza IMSS, Mexico,

  4. 4

    Department of Endocrinology, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital de Bicêtre and University Paris-Sud 11, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France,

  5. 5

    Institute of Reproductive Toxicology, St Elisabeth Hospital (Academic Teaching Hospital of the University of Ulm), Ravensburg, Germany and

  6. 6

    Neuroendocrine Unit, Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

* Annamaria Colao, Department of Molecular and Clinical Endocrinology and Oncology, Section of Endocrinology, University Federico II of Naples, via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy. Tel.: +39 081 7462132; Fax: +39 081 5465443; E-mail: colao@unina.it

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 18 JUL 2007
  2. Article first published online: 18 JUL 2007
  3. (Received 21 March 2007; returned for revision 5 April 2007; finally revised 21 May 2007; accepted 20 June 2007)

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Summary

Objective  Cabergoline is a dopamine agonist used to treat hyperprolactinaemia. Because hyperprolactinaemia is a significant cause of infertility in women, cabergoline and other dopamine agonists are frequently prescribed to reduce prolactin levels and restore normal menses. They are usually discontinued shortly after the patient becomes pregnant. Although cabergoline has been used to treat hyperprolactinaemia since the mid-1990s, safety data related to maternal and foetal exposure to this agent are still limited.

Design  The current prospective, observational study reports on a total of 380 pregnancies. This extends by 154 pregnancies the results of a previously published interim report on the outcomes of 226 pregnancies in women treated with cabergoline up to 1994.

Main outcome measures  Outcomes examined include the incidence of abortions and premature delivery and the number and types of foetal malformations or abnormalities.

Results  Follow-up data were available for 329 pregnancies, including 258 (78%) deliveries and 71 (22%) abortions. Of the 71 reported abortions, 31 (44%) were voluntary, 30 (42%) were spontaneous miscarriages, and nine (13%) were therapeutic. Of the 258 deliveries, 250 (97%) were live deliveries, four (2%) were stillbirths, and the status of delivery was unknown for the remaining four (2%). Of the 250 live deliveries, 193 (77%) were term deliveries (gestational period > 37 weeks), 45 (18%) were preterm deliveries (gestational period ≤ 37 weeks), and 62% of the infants had normal birthweights (i.e. 3–4 kg). Neonatal abnormalities were recorded for 23 (9%) of the infants with no apparent pattern in type or severity.

Conclusion  The results of this study suggest that foetal exposure to cabergoline through early pregnancy does not induce any increase in the risk of miscarriage or foetal malformation.

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