539

could be included in our study. Interferences from surgical and manipulation and analgesic cover are ruled out by the simultaneously collected central and control peripheral venous

cases

stress

TABLE II-MEDIAN RADIOGRAPHIC SCORES, NEW EROSIONS, AND TOTAL SCORES

blood.2 The inferior petrosal sinus sampling technique is well known and is routine in diagnostic protocols in Cushing’s disease.3 The clinical value of this method in non-Cushing pituitary disorders4 is questionable, and this may cause some ethical problems. PRL levels in blood collected from the inferior petrosal sinuses’ will be lower than in our samples which were taken from a more central site; the more peripheral the blood, the more dilute the hormone. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Institute of Reproductive Physiology and Pathology, S Orsola Hospital, University Alma Mater Studiorum, Bologna 40138, Italy, and 2nd Division of Neurosurgery, Bellaria Hospital, Bologna

R. PARADISI S. VENTUROLI E. PORCU C. FLAMIGNI G. FRANK E. GALASSI

*p < 02 for differences between treatment groups. and tNS for between-treatment comparisons tp