Magnetic resonance imaging of sellar and juxtasellar abnormalities: atypical findings of common diseases and typical findings of rare diseases

Abstract The sellar/juxtasellar region comprises the bone component of the sella turcica, pituitary gland, cavernous sinus, and suprasellar cistern. Abnormalities in this region can be attributed to underproduction or overproduction of hormones or to the neurological signs and symptoms resulting from the compression of adjacent structures. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is currently the imaging method of choice, having supplanted computed tomography. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the common and uncommon imaging aspects of sellar and juxtasellar changes, which could facilitate the differential diagnosis. We retrospectively evaluated the MRI scans of 70 patients with sellar/juxtasellar abnormalities from didactic files, and report those with more unusual changes, where MRI played an important role in diagnosis. All cases were confirmed histologically or clinical laboratory.

【摘要】 鞍区/鞍旁区包含蝶鞍骨结构、垂体、海绵窦及鞍上池。该区域的异常可由激素分泌不足或过量所致，亦可因邻近结构受压引发神经体征与症状。目前，磁共振成像（Magnetic Resonance Imaging，MRI）已取代计算机断层扫描（Computed Tomography，CT），成为该区域影像检查的首选方式。本研究旨在展示鞍区及鞍旁病变的常见与少见影像学表现，以辅助临床鉴别诊断。本研究回顾性分析了来自教学病例档案的70例鞍区/鞍旁异常患者的MRI影像资料，并重点报告其中影像学表现较为特殊的病例，此类病例中MRI在诊断中发挥了关键作用。所有病例均经组织病理学或临床实验室检查确诊。