Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 22, 2026
Author Spotlight: A Single-Entry Point Endoscopic Intraventricular Approach for Third Ventriculostomy and Pineal Biopsy
Published on: June 28, 2024
Follow-up of pineal cysts in children: is it necessary?
Miro-Pekka Jussila1,2, Päivi Olsén2,3, Niina Salokorpi4,5
1Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, P.O. Box 50, OYS, Oulu, 90029, Finland.
Purpose:
Pineal cysts are common incidental findings in children undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Several studies have suggested MRI follow-up if the cyst is larger than 10 mm. However, cysts do not usually change during follow-up. Prevalence, growth, and structure of the pineal cysts were analyzed to decide if follow-up MRI is necessary.
Methods:
A retrospective review between 2010 and 2015 was performed using 3851 MRI examinations of children aged 0-16 years to detect pineal cysts having a maximum diameter ≥ 10 mm. Eighty-one children with pineal cysts were identified and 79 of them had been controlled by MRI. Cysts were analyzed for the size, growth, and structure.
Results:
A total of 1.8% of the children had a pineal cyst with a diameter ≥ 10 mm. Cysts were present in 48 girls (59.3%) and 33 boys (40.7%). Most pineal cysts (70/79) did not significantly grow during the follow-up (median 10 months, range 3-145 months). A total of 11.4% (9/79) of the cysts grew with the biggest change measured from the outer cyst wall sagittal anteroposterior dimension (mean 3.4 mm ± 1.7 mm). Only one cyst grew more than 5 mm. We found no factors correlating with the cyst growth among 9 cysts that grew > 2 mm.
Conclusions:
A majority of pineal cysts remained unchanged during the MRI follow-up. Results of this study suggest that routine MRI follow-up of pineal cysts is not necessary in the absence of unusual radiological characteristics or related clinical symptoms.
