Long-term low-dose cabergoline usage: Another association with cardiac valvulopathy

Echocardiography. 2023 Jan;40(1):61-64. doi: 10.1111/echo.15506. Epub 2022 Dec 13.

Abstract

A 60-year-old patient, professor of physics, presented in 1999 with sudden-onset vitiligo associated with hyperprolactinemia and a prolactinoma. Fearful of potential surgical complications at the peak of his career, the patient declined surgery and opted for medical management with bromocriptine. The decreasing effectiveness of bromocriptine after 5 years required a switch to cabergoline. After a 15-year-course of cabergoline therapy with a cumulative dose of 572 mg, echocardiographic monitoring demonstrated aortic and mitral valve thickening and regurgitation. An additional 3 years of cabergoline treatment (cumulative dose: 649 mg) resulted in worsening valve thickening and regurgitation. It is well-recognized that such valvular changes may occur with high-dose cabergoline treatment. We report a case of mitral and aortic vavulopathy in a patient who was treated with long-term (18 years) low-dosage (.5-1 mg weekly) cabergoline. cabergoline, echocardiography, valvulopathy.

Keywords: cabergoline; echocardiography; valvulopathy.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Bromocriptine
  • Cabergoline
  • Ergolines / therapeutic use
  • Heart Valve Diseases* / complications
  • Heart Valve Diseases* / diagnostic imaging
  • Heart Valve Diseases* / drug therapy
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Pituitary Neoplasms* / complications
  • Pituitary Neoplasms* / drug therapy

Substances

  • Cabergoline
  • Bromocriptine
  • Ergolines