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High-resolution heavily T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for evaluation of the pituitary stalk in children with ectopic neurohypophysis

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Abstract

Background

In anterior pituitary deficiency, patients with non visible pituitary stalk have more often multiple deficiencies and persistent deficiency than patients with visible pituitary stalk.

Objective

To compare the diagnostic value of a high-resolution heavily T2-weighted sequence to 1.5-mm-thick unenhanced and contrast-enhanced sagittal T1-weighted sequences to assess the presence of the pituitary stalk in children with ectopic posterior pituitary gland.

Materials and methods

We retrospectively evaluated the MRI data of 14 children diagnosed with ectopic posterior pituitary gland between 2010 and 2014. We evaluated the presence of a pituitary stalk using a sagittal high-resolution heavily T2-weighted sequence and a 1.5-mm sagittal T1-weighted turbo spin-echo sequence before and after contrast medium administration.

Results

A pituitary stalk was present on at least one of the sequences in 10 of the 14 children (71%). T2-weighted sequence depicted the pituitary stalk in all 10 children, whereas the 1.5-mm-thick T1-weighted sequence depicted 2/10 (20%) before contrast injection and 8/10 (80%) after contrast injection (P=0.007).

Conclusion

Compared with 1.5-mm-thick contrast-enhanced T1-weighted sequences, high-resolution heavily T2-weighted sequence demonstrates better sensitivity in detecting the pituitary stalk in children with ectopic posterior pituitary gland, suggesting that contrast injection is unnecessary to assess the presence of a pituitary stalk in this setting.

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Acknowledgments

We thank David Chéchin (Philips France, Suresnes) for his technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service de Radiologie Pédiatrique, Hôpital Robert Debré, APHP, 48 boulevard Sérurier, 75019, Paris, France

    Imane El Sanharawi, Loukia Tzarouchi, Liesbeth Cardoen, Monique Elmaleh-Berges & Marianne Alison

  2. Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France

    Liesbeth Cardoen, Laetitia Martinerie, Juliane Leger, Jean-Claude Carel & Marianne Alison

  3. Inserm U1141, DHU PROTECT, Paris, France

    Laetitia Martinerie, Juliane Leger, Jean-Claude Carel, Monique Elmaleh-Berges & Marianne Alison

  4. Service d’Endocrinologie Pédiatrique, Hôpital Robert Debré, APHP, Paris, France

    Laetitia Martinerie, Juliane Leger & Jean-Claude Carel

Authors
  1. Imane El Sanharawi
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  2. Loukia Tzarouchi
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  3. Liesbeth Cardoen
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  4. Laetitia Martinerie
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  5. Juliane Leger
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  6. Jean-Claude Carel
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  7. Monique Elmaleh-Berges
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  8. Marianne Alison
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marianne Alison.

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El Sanharawi, I., Tzarouchi, L., Cardoen, L. et al. High-resolution heavily T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for evaluation of the pituitary stalk in children with ectopic neurohypophysis. Pediatr Radiol 47, 599–605 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-017-3784-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-017-3784-2

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