The assessment of the pituitary volume in normal prepubertal children with three-dimensional MRI

Purpose: The aim of the present study is to measure the pituitary volume of the children who are under 12 years of age with normal pituitary function and find the reference interval of the normal pituitary volume in the prepubertal period Materials and Methods: A total 240 healthy children (120 boys- 120 girls) under the age of 12 yr who came our clinic for cranial MRI imaging for various indications within 2 years, were examined. The volume of pituitary gland was measured using a thin-section three dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences of magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo imaging with a 1-mm thick reconstructed sagittal images. We also examined the midline sagittal T1-weighted images for the measurement of the pituitary height Results: The pituitary gland volume and height demonstrated increasing trend with the age for both genders in the prepubertal period. Although the pituitary volume in the neonatal period is higher in boys than in girls, it became opposite with the age of 6 yr. The height of the pituitary gland increases gradually-slowly with age; while it was higher in boys in the neonatal period, it was higher in girls at the age of 4 years. The lowest, highest and average values of the volume and height values of pituitary gland were found for each age and gender. The reference values of the pituitary volume values containing 5-10-25-50-75-90-95th percentiles were formed for each age and gender. Conclusion: 3D MRI can be used for direct measurement of pituitary volume in prepubertal children. Measuring of pituitary volume using this 3D technique may permit a more precise assessment of the developing pituitary gland in children.