title: Measures of pituitary gland and stalk: from neonate to adolescence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to provide normative data about pituitary diameters in a pediatric population. Pituitary imaging is important for the evaluation of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis defect. However, data about normal pituitary gland diameters and stalk are limited, especially in children. Structure and the measurements of pituitary gland and pituitary stalk may change due to infection, inflammation, or neoplasia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Among 14,854 cranial/pituitary gland magnetic resonance imaging scans performed from 2011 to 2013, 2755 images of Turkish children aged between 0 and 18 were acquired. After exclusions, 517 images were left. Four radiologists were educated by an experienced pediatric radiologist for the measurement and assessment of the pituitary gland and pituitary stalk. Twenty cases were measured by all radiologists for a pilot study and there was no interobserver variability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 10-22 children in each age group. The maximum median height of the pituitary gland was 8.48±1.08 and 6.19±0.88 mm for girls and boys, respectively. Volumes were also correlated with gender similar to height. Minimum median height was 3.91±0.75 mm for girls and 3.81±0.68 mm for boys. The maximum and minimum pituitary stalk basilar artery ratios for girls were 0.73±0.12 and 0.59±0.10 mm. The ratios for boys were 0.70±0.12 and 0.56±0.11 mm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrated the pituitary gland and stalk size data of children in various age groups from newborn to adolescent. It is thought that these data can be applied in clinical practice. Future prospective follow-up studies with larger samples, which correlate the structural findings with the clinical and laboratory results are awaited.
authors.forename: Sebahattin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sari
authors.forename: Erkan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sari
authors.forename: Veysel
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Akgun
authors.forename: Emrah
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ozcan
authors.forename: Selami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ince
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saldir
authors.forename: Oguzhan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Babacan
authors.forename: Cengizhan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Acikel
authors.forename: Gokalp
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Basbozkurt
authors.forename: Salim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozenc
authors.forename: Sirzat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yesilkaya
authors.forename: Cenk
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kilic
authors.forename: Kemal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kara
authors.forename: Sebahattin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vurucu
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kocaoglu
authors.forename: Ediz
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yesilkaya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000737:chemistry*