Measures of pituitary gland and stalk: from neonate to adolescence

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to provide normative data about pituitary diameters in a pediatric population. Pituitary imaging is important for the evaluation of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis defect. However, data about normal pituitary gland diameters and stalk are limited, especially in children. Structure and the measurements of pituitary gland and pituitary stalk may change due to infection, inflammation, or neoplasia. Methods: Among 14,854 cranial/pituitary gland magnetic resonance imaging scans performed from 2011 to 2013, 2755 images of Turkish children aged between 0 and 18 were acquired. After exclusions, 517 images were left. Four radiologists were educated by an experienced pediatric radiologist for the measurement and assessment of the pituitary gland and pituitary stalk. Twenty cases were measured by all radiologists for a pilot study and there was no interobserver variability. Results: There were 10-22 children in each age group. The maximum median height of the pituitary gland was 8.48 ± 1.08 and 6.19 ± 0.88 mm for girls and boys, respectively. Volumes were also correlated with gender similar to height. Minimum median height was 3.91 ± 0.75 mm for girls and 3.81 ± 0.68 mm for boys. The maximum and minimum pituitary stalk basilar artery ratios for girls were 0.73 ± 0.12 and 0.59 ± 0.10 mm. The ratios for boys were 0.70 ± 0.12 and 0.56 ± 0.11 mm. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated the pituitary gland and stalk size data of children in various age groups from newborn to adolescent. It is thought that these data can be applied in clinical practice. Future prospective followup studies with larger samples, which correlate the structural findings with the clinical and laboratory results are awaited.

Morphometric analysis of the sella turcica in Turkish individuals with different dentofacial skeletal patterns

“…The age-related increase in the size of the sella turcica correlated with an increase in the size of the pituitary gland [6,13,33]. Remodeling of tuberculum sellae and the posterior border of sella turcica continued up to 16-18 years of age [26].…”

Endocrine status of patients with septo-optic dysplasia: fourteen Japanese cases

“…The diameters of the pituitary stalk and basilar artery were measured on axial images on the same plane in the middle of the pituitary stalk. To evaluate the size of the pituitary stalk, the pituitary stalk/basilar artery ratio was calculated (9). We defined a thin pituitary stalk as below –2 SDS of normal children.…”

Intracranial Lesions in Children and Adolescents with Morbid Obesity

“…The height of hypophysis was evaluated according to age and sex. Height >+2 SD was defined as hypophyseal hyperplasia (HH), height below <-2 SD was defined as hypophyseal hypoplasia (9). Adenohypophyseal hormones (luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, adrenocorticotrophic hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, prolactin, GH were obtained from the cases with ICL lesions and chemiluminescence method was used in evaluation (10).…”