There is a good account in the Proceedings of the UK NEQAS
Endocrinology abstract book 1998;124-6 by Geoff Lester.
Unfortunately our neurologists state that experienced
epileptologists cannot always tell the difference between real and
psedo-seizures even when they are watching them. This makes the
interpretation of prolactin even more problematic!!
Julian Barth
> I don't know about 'hard evidence', but I remember copying the
> following words of wisdom out of the Oxford Textbook of Medicine (2nd
> ed, 1987) some years ago:
>
> "If serum can be obtained about 20 min after a true seizure, serum
> prolactins of four to five times the normal level will be found; the
> level returns to normal within 24 hours. Elevated serum prolactins
> will be found shortly after true tonic-clonic seizures and complex
> partial seizures, but not after simulated seizures, nor after true
> partial seizures arising in parts of the brain other than the temporal
> lobe."
> Hope this helps.
> Stephen Bangert
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Julian H Barth
Department of Clinical Biochemistry & Immunology
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Leeds General Infirmary
Leeds LS1 3EX
tel 0113-392-3416
fax 0113-233-5672
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