Pituitary Disorders

Pituitary disorders; such as, pituitary microadenoma's or pituitary macroadenoma's are a common pathology in MRI. At our facility, we do routine brain sequences; as well as, high resolution and smaller FOV images of the pituitary to screen for these disorders. We give contrast to see how the gland enhances verses the tumor. This can be tricky since the pituitary enhances normally. To help eliminate this difficulty we like to give a half dose and scan immediately or dynamically post contrast. These disorders are benign in nature but can cause multiple problems. If the tumor is more than 10 mm than it is considered macroadenoma. If is less than 10mm it is considered microadenoma.