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Age-related pituitary volumes in prepubertal children with normal endocrine function: volumetric magnetic resonance
1Department of Medical Imaging, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia. michelle.fink@wch.org.au
Insights
This study establishes normal reference ranges for pituitary gland volumes in children under 10 using 3D MRI. These findings provide crucial pediatric imaging standards for evaluating pituitary size in prepubertal children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Radiology
- Neuroimaging
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Pituitary gland size assessment via MRI is challenging due to normal morphological variations.
- Limited age-specific biometric data exists for normal pituitary gland volumes in children.
- Establishing normative data is essential for accurate clinical interpretation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish standard normal reference values for pituitary gland volumes in prepubertal children.
- To utilize three-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data for precise volumetric measurements.
- To address the paucity of age-related biometric data for pediatric pituitary glands.
Main Methods:
- Prospective recruitment of 139 children under 10 years old undergoing brain MRI.
- Inclusion criteria: no endocrine abnormalities, normal MRI studies, undergoing MRI for seizures or developmental delay.
- Direct pituitary volumes measured from 1-mm thick 3D reconstructed coronal and sagittal images.
Main Results:
- Directly measured pituitary volumes showed a linear increase with age (log-transformed).
- Weak correlations were observed between pituitary volume and height or body mass index.
- No significant gender differences were found; weak correlations between estimated and measured volumes.
Conclusions:
- Age-related reference ranges for pituitary volumes in prepubertal children were successfully generated.
- The study provides valuable graphical and tabular data for clinical use.
- These reference ranges aid in the accurate evaluation of pituitary gland size in pediatric neuroimaging.
Background:
Evaluation of the size of the pituitary gland on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be difficult, considering the wide variation in normal gland morphology. Given the paucity of age-related biometric data, our purpose was to obtain standard normal reference values for pituitary volumes in prepubertal children using three-dimensional MRI data.
Methods:
Children under the age of 10 yr undergoing brain MRI for seizures or idiopathic developmental delay and who had no endocrine abnormality were recruited prospectively over 2 yr. All MRI studies included a three-dimensional sequence. Only subjects with normal studies were included. One hundred thirty-nine children were eligible (mean age, 5.2 yr). Direct pituitary volumes were measured from contiguous 1-mm thick reconstructed coronal and sagittal images. Estimated pituitary volumes were calculated using pituitary height, width, and length.
Results:
Volumes obtained from reconstructions in either plane were essentially identical. There was a linear increase in log-transformed pituitary volume with age, but relatively weak correlations with height or body mass index. There was no gender difference and only weak correlations between pituitary height and pituitary volume and between estimated pituitary volume calculation and measured pituitary volume. We provide age-related reference ranges for pituitary volumes in graphical and tabular forms.
