Objective: To report on a patient with thalidomide-induced amenorrhea and review the literature on the effect of thalidomide on ovarian function.
Design: Case report and literature review.
Setting: University medical center.
Patient(s): A twenty-eight-year-old woman referred for a 2-year history of amenorrhea.
Intervention(s): History, physical examination, laboratory evaluation of the patient, and subsequent medical therapy. Literature review performed by using OVID/Medline and PubMed search strategies.
Main outcome measure(s): Diagnosis and appropriate management of thalidomide-induced amenorrhea.
Result(s): Elevated pituitary gonadotropins, other labs normal. All known causes of hypergonadotropic amenorrhea were excluded.
Conclusion(s): Thalidomide induces hypergonadotropic amenorrhea. Although this effect appears to be reversible, the long-term effect of thalidomide on ovarian reserve is unclear.