Pituitary gland and sella turcica

The investigation of pituitary pathology has undergone significant changes during the past two decades. CT permitted direct visualization of the sella turcica and its soft tissue contents in a noninvasive manner. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) now offers significant advantages over CT without intravenous contrast or radiation exposure. There is substantially greater soft tissue contrast as well as excellent definition of adjacent vascular structures. With the current generation of MR systems, much improved spatial definition is possible. Thus, the spatial resolution of MRI is now competitive with CT. In view of the many other advantages described, MRI is superceding CT as the modality of choice for evaluating the sella turcica