Association of the pituitary gland height with variant sella morphology in children

To analyze the relationship of the height of the pituitary gland (HPG) with the heights of the dorsum sellae (HDS) and tuberculum sellae (HTS) on pediatric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) views.

MRI slices of 180 healthy children (100 males and 80 females) aged 1-18 years were included in the study.

Average HPG, HTS and HDS values were determined as 6.66 ± 1.58 mm, 10.97 ± 1.99 mm, 13.62 ± 2.67 mm, respectively. No statistically significant difference was determined between the measurements in term of sex. All parameters correlated with pediatric ages. HPG increased up to the prepubescent period, and decreased after this period (p < 0.001). HDS and HTS increased with an irregular pattern (p < 0.001). There were six children (3.33%) with HPG > 10 mm. There was no child with HPG/HDS > 1 or HPG/HTS > 1.

This work provided three substantial additions to the literature as follows: (a) all pediatric HPGs were distinctly smaller than HDSs and HTSs, (b) some children (3.33%) at puberty (age range: 10-14 years), regardless of sex, might have a HPG > 10 mm, even though there was no pathology at the pituitary gland, and (c) to our knowledge, this retrospective MRI examination evaluated the relation of HPG with variant sella morphology in normal children for the first time in the literature.