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Imaging of the Sella and Perisellar Region

  • Chapter
Diseases of the Pituitary

Part of the book series: Contemporary Endocrinology ((COE,volume 3))

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Abstract

The center of our attention is the sella turcica, the bony skeleton of which is a transverse hemicylinder open on either side and superiorly (1). The anterior wall is perpendicular. The tuberculum sellae is a transverse interface between the anterior wall and the sphenoid plate or plane. Frequently this interface is a transverse groove between the anteriorly placed limbus sphenoidalis of the sphenoid plate and the tuberculum with the misnamed chiasmatic groove between, extending toward each intracranial optic canal orifice. The posterior convex wall (both superoinferiorly and side to side) is the dorsum sellae terminating superolaterally in the posterior clinoids which tend to be directed anteriorly. The anterior clinoids are more lateral and are projected posteriorly and somewhat medially. A thin plate of bone forms the roof of the optic canal (the operculum), extending from the top of the anterior clinoid to the sphenoid plate on each side. The floor of the optic canal is the optic strut, a triangular section of bone upon which touches the distal cavernous loop of the internal carotid artery inferiorly and the optic nerve superiorly. In most skeletons, the cavernous internal carotid artery lies in a groove upon the superolateral aspect of the body of the sphenoid bone.

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Authors
  1. John C. Stears MD
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO, USA

    Margaret E. Wierman MD

  2. Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Denver, CO, USA

    Margaret E. Wierman MD

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© 1997 Humana Press Inc.

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Stears, J.C. (1997). Imaging of the Sella and Perisellar Region. In: Wierman, M.E. (eds) Diseases of the Pituitary. Contemporary Endocrinology, vol 3. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3954-3_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3954-3_17

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8438-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3954-3

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