Medical Biology - medical cases that require diagnosign

[adeel]

here is a case i need to diagnose:

A man was finally encouraged by his wife to go to the doctor. The man was experiencing headaches and loss of his peripheral vision. What alarmed him though was that he was producing breast milk. The doctor asked him waht medication he was on and he told the doctor he was on phenothiazine for his high blood pressure. His blood test results confirmed that he had a high level of prolactin.

i have diagnosed this as either galactorrhea or prolactinoma. Different websites give me different answers for what prolactinoma and galactorrhea are. Can anyone tell me what is right?

 

[adrenaline]

Galactorrhea is a physcial sign rather than a disease. Galactorrhea, or expression of breast milk,can be caused by many things. one of them is a prolactinoma. However, the phenothiazine he is taking is an atypical antipsycotic and galactorrhea is a common adverse side effect due to its antidopaminergic effects. Dopamine is a prolactin release inhibitor. Thus, those who take atypical antipsycotics have elevated levels of prolactin and the resultant galactorrhea due to this antidopaminergic effect. However, it would not account for the headaches. He needs at the very least a prolactin level and an MRI. Do not discount breast cancer in a male, especially if he has a family history of BRACII genetic mutation in his mom. It is becoming more and more common to diagnose breast cancer in males (Remember the actor who played Shaft on TV).