What are the causes of amenorrhoea?

The causes of amenorrhoea can be classified as follows:

Uterine causes

• Asherman's syndrome - this condition results from damage to the lining of the uterus (the endometrium).
• Pregnancy
• Congenital abnormality - Mullerian agenesis, Testicular Feminisation Syndrome, Imperforate Hymen.

Ovarian causes

• Polycystic ovarian syndrome
• Premature ovarian failure - this results in an early menopause
• Menopause
• Gonadal dysgenesis - results in the abnormal development of the ovary
• Resistant ovarian syndrome - in this condition the ovary is resistant to circulating hormones

Pituitary causes

• Hyperprolactinaemia - for more details click here
• Pituitary adenoma - for more details click here
• Craniopharygioma
• Pituitary Necrosis
• Sheehan's syndrome - during pregnancy, the blood flow through the pituitary gland increases. This syndrome results from the vasoconstriction after a post-partum haemorrhage. This decrease in blood flow to the pituitary results in infarction and either acute or chronic symptoms of hypopituitarism.
• Pituitary apoplexy - this is a dramatic condition in which a pre-existing adenoma undergoes infarction usually involving some haemorrhage. The patient may present with a sudden collapse and will later show either single or multiple hormone deficiencies.

Hypothalamic causes

• Anorexia
• Starvation
• Stress
• Excess Exercise
• Kallmann's syndrome - a rare congenital condition of hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism.

Other Endocrine causes

• Hypothyroidism
• Hyperthyroidism
• Cushing's syndrome
• Androgen secreting tumour