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Imaging of Pituitary Tumors

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Book cover Diagnosis and Management of Pituitary Tumors

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Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) have largely replaced all other imaging modalities in the diagnostic evaluation of the pituitary gland and surrounding structures. Plain film radiography has proven to be both insensitive and nonspecific in the evaluation of pituitary lesions, and is rarely utilized in the investigation of pituitary disease. At best, an abnormality of the sella turcica seen on a skull radiograph will lead to further imaging with CT or MRI. Polytomography, previously used extensively, is sensitive to minor abnormalities in the contour of the bony sella. However, these abnormalities correlate poorly with lesions of the pituitary gland (1, 2), and therefore, the use of polytomography has also been abandoned.

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Authors
  1. Derek Emery MD
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  2. Walter Kucharczyk MD
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Kamal Thapar MD, PhD

  2. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Kalman Kovacs MD, PhD

  3. Department of Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Bernd W. Scheithauer MD  & Ricardo V. Lloyd MD, PhD  & 

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Emery, D., Kucharczyk, W. (2001). Imaging of Pituitary Tumors. In: Thapar, K., Kovacs, K., Scheithauer, B.W., Lloyd, R.V. (eds) Diagnosis and Management of Pituitary Tumors. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-217-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-217-3_11

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9693-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-217-3

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