Height, shape and anteroposterior diameter of normal pituitary gland in 15 to 40 years old population

Hypophysis or pituitary gland is an endocrine gland.indeed it is an outpouching from hypothalamus to skull base with about 0.5 gram weight. Size of pituitary gland is not equal in different sexes and age groups.so measuring of normal pituitary gland is usefull in determination of it’s pathology.to our knowledge, no report about measurements of pituitary gland in normal population of Iran has been published by now. Undoubtedly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the optimal imaging technique for evaluating the pituitary gland.The aim of this study was measuring of height and antero-posterior diameter of normal pituitary gland in Kerman. in this cross sectional study119 healthy subjectswithout sellar or parasellar disease or surgery and without history of corticosteroid or prolactin affecting drugs consumption, which refered to Fatemeh Zahra imaging center of kerman were selected by non probable convenience method.then height and antero-posterior diameter of pituitary was measured by mid-sagittal T1 sequence MRI.datas were analyzed using spss19, ANOVA and independent t test. mean height of pituitary gland in femalesubjects(5.72±1.21milimeter)was more than males(5.65±1.28 milimeter)with P value equal to 0.7. Evaluation of age groups showed decrease of pituitary height in females by increasing age. pituitary height was significantly higher in 15-20years old group(p=0.005).there was no significant difference in pituitary height in male age groups (P= 0.37). The anteroposterior diameter in females was 9.96±1.44 and in males was 10.02±1.18 milimeter that showed no significant difference (P=0.8). The shape of pituitary gland was flat in more than 50% of cases, the others were concave or convex. this normal measurments could be used as a reference for evaluation of pituitary gland in patients.