Pituitary gland volumes in children with normal endocrine function

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Radiology
• Neuroimaging
• Endocrinology

Background:

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is crucial for detecting pituitary pathologies due to its high resolution.
• Assessing pituitary gland size is challenging due to individual morphological variations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish normal reference values for pediatric pituitary gland volumes using 3D MRI.
• To compare 3D volumetric measurements with 2D ellipsoid formula calculations.
• To analyze reference values across pediatric age and sex subgroups.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 800 pediatric brain MRIs (age < 18) without brain or endocrine anomalies.
• Pituitary volumes calculated using 3D volumetry and 2D ellipsoid formula.
• Normative reference ranges (percentiles) tabulated for 1-year age groups by sex.

Main Results:

• Pituitary gland volume increases with age in both sexes.
• Girls generally have larger pituitary volumes than boys, with a notable pubertal growth spurt.
• A strong positive correlation exists between 2D and 3D volume measurements.

Conclusions:

• The study provides essential normative data for pediatric pituitary volumes for clinical and research use.
• 2D calculations offer a viable alternative for estimating pituitary volume when 3D is unavailable.