SCA practice case · Video consultation

“My periods stopped and now there’s milk — am I pregnant?”

Video consultation Adult patient Straightforward Gender, reproductive & sexual healthInvestigations & results

The candidate brief

This is what you would read in the 3-minute window before the patient connects. Read it once, note two or three hypotheses and one thing you must not miss, then stop.

Patient
Hannah Reid · 29 years · female
Setting
Video consultation — periods stopped and nipple discharge; blood results back.
Past history
  • Nil significant
  • Secondary amenorrhoea — 6 months
Medication
  • No repeat medication recorded
Allergies
NKDA
Recent notes
⚠ Prolactin ~2200 mU/L (ref upper ~500). Urine hCG negative. TFTs, U&E and repeat prolactin not yet done.
Reason for contact
Booked to discuss results. “Am I pregnant? What is the milk?”

Practise this case

The full case is in the Hot Seat with the Gold plan. You get a 12-minute timer, a role-player script with facts released only when asked, examiner checkpoints by the three RCGP domains, a model consultation and the guidance behind it.

What this case tests

Show the learning points (spoiler: read after you have practised)
The triad of amenorrhoea, galactorrhoea and a markedly raised prolactin (pregnancy-negative) is hyperprolactinaemia — work it up structured rather than leaping to "brain tumour". Confirm with a repeat prolactin and exclude the common reversible causes: pregnancy, primary hypothyroidism, renal impairment, and especially DRUGS (dopamine-blockers — antipsychotics, metoclopramide, domperidone), which here is the easily-missed cause hiding in a private "anxiety pill" started shortly before her periods stopped — though it does not explain her visual symptoms. Screen for macroadenoma red flags (headache, visual-field loss from chiasmal compression) with formal visual fields, and arrange pituitary MRI and endocrine referral. The examinable hidden agenda is twofold: the stated brain-tumour fear, and the deeper, less-voiced FERTILITY fear ("am I broken?") as she and her partner consider trying — plus shame about undisclosed private medication. Deliver honest, mostly-reassuring information (hyperprolactinaemia is highly treatable; prolactinomas usually respond to dopamine agonists; fertility usually recovers once prolactin normalises), take a complete non-judgemental drug history, don’t stop a needed psychiatric drug abruptly, and safety-net visual symptoms as urgent.

The guidance behind it

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