Computed tomography was considered for many years to be the gold standard for imaging the pituitary and hypothalamus with its high resolution and reformatting capabilities providing excellent anatomic detail of this area. Even though today MR is the preferred initial imaging modality, CT still provides a quick means to visualise thin sections of this area.
Certain patients are unable to undergo an MR examination for various reasons (e.g. a pacemaker or claustrophobia). Aneurysm clips may also be deflected in the magnetic field or may degrade MR image quality. In these patients CT still provides excellent evaluation of the sellar region. CT also provides valuable additional information to MR imaging when evaluating sellar masses with respect to bone involvement, tumour calcification and acute haemorrhage.
