Three-dimensional magnetic resonance-based morphometry of pituitary stalk

Purpose The pituitary or infundibular stalk is an anatomically important structure identified routinely in radiologic imaging for the evaluation of pituitary and suprasellar lesions. The morphometry of the pituitary stalk with 1.5 T MR images was useful in diagnosing the infundibular lesion and to assess the efficacy of treatment given by chemotherapy for many pathological conditions. The normative data for the length, the thickness of the stalk, and the infundibular recess are inadequate in the literature. There are no data regarding the morphometry of the pituitary stalk in the adult population. Methods One hundred and fifty normal brain MR images (75 males and 75 females) were analyzed for the evaluation of stalk and other parameters. Mean and the standard deviation were calculated. The unpaired t test was used to assess any significant difference between age-groups and gender. The intraclass coefficient correlation was used to analyze the inter-observer variability. Results The mean length of the stalk was 0.55 ± 0.16 mm. There was a significant difference ( p