Morphometric assessment of sella turcica using CT scan

Abstract

Sella turcica is a saddle-shaped depression located in the middle cranial fossa on the upper surface of the sphenoid bone. It is enclosed by the pituitary fossa in which the pituitary gland is lodged, tuberculum sellae on the front and dorsum sellae in the rear. [1][2][3][4] Two anterior and two posterior clinoid processes form a protrusion on the pituitary fossa, and these are the structures that protect the pituitary gland in the sella turcica. The extensions of the sphenoid bone's ala minor to the anterior and medial form the anterior clinoid processes.The endings of the dorsum sellae form the posterior clinoid processes. [1,4,5] Sella turcica is a bony structure that is closely related with the pituitary gland, and is of both anatomical and clinical importance. The sellar and parasellar regions are anatomically complex structures where neoplastic, infectious, inflammatory, developmental and vascular pathologies may develop. [2,6] Research on sella turcica focuses not only on its dimensions, but also on its morphology. Sella morphology is important in both evaluating treatment outcomes AbstractObjectives: Morphometry of sella turcica should be known to evaluate pathological sella turcica. The aim of this study was to measure the size and describe the morphology of sella turcica in a Turkish population.Methods: This study included 101 individuals aged 17 to 70 years who went under CT scan. Sella length, sella width, sella height anterior, sella height median, sella height posterior, sella area, sella depth and sella anteroposterior (AP) diameter were measured.Results: Sella length was measured as 9.18±1.91 mm, sella width 10.41±1.74 mm, sella height anterior 8.09±1.65 mm, sella height median 7.71±1.24 mm, sella height posterior 7.48±1.34 mm, sella area 69.15±17.45 mm 2 , sella depth 7.87± 1.37 mm and antero-posterior sella diameter as 11.48±1.82 mm. When these sizes were compared between males and females, only sella length and width differed significantly. When compared by decades, there was a statistically significant difference only in the sella area parameter. Conclusion:Sella turcica dimensions of the Turkish population obtained by CT in this study can be used in estimating pituitary gland size and in determining any pathology in the sellar and parasellar regions. In addition, these results may help clinicians who encounter pathologically large sella areas in easily distinguishing it. Therefore, knowing the normal anatomy and variations of sella turcica is important for neurologists and neurosurgeons who deal with the pathologies of this area.

Radio-Morphometric Analysis of Sella Turcica in Relation to Age and Gender in Sri Ganganagar Population: A Prospective Cephalometric Study

“…The typical size of ST differs according to the individual's ethnicity, geography, and race [13,14]. Many studies have shown that the altered morphology of ST is usually associated with some severe pathological conditions, including pituitary tumours, hypoactive pituitary, Down syndrome, and Williams syndrome [15][16][17]. Srinivas et al [19] also agreed on the correlation between the altered morphology of ST and the presence of related pathological conditions.…”

Metric Analysis of Sella Turcica for Sex Identification Using Multidetector Computed Tomography in a Sample of Adult Egyptians.

“…Interestingly; metric measures of Sella Turcica show a wide range of variability among different populations in relation to sex. For example, Turamanlar et al (2017) in Turkish population; Chou et al (2021Chou et al ( , 2022 in Taiwanese population and El-Sehly et al (2018) in Egyptian population; revealed evident difference in Sella measurements between both sexes. On the other hand; Islam et al (2017) in Bangladeshi population and Hasan et al (2016b) in Iraqi population; reported non-significant difference between males and females as regard Sella measures.…”

“…Images were randomly selected from images stored on picture archiving and communication system (PACS) system scans of Mansoura University Hospitals during the period between September 2021 and March 2022 after applying the exclusion criteria. Age of the enrolled subjects ranged between 18 and 70 years (Turamanlar et al, 2017;Silveira et al, 2020). All participants had skull CT for different diagnostic medical or surgical reasons and no unnecessary exposure to radiation was done for the research purpose.…”

“…The distance between the tuberculum sellae and the backmost point in the posterior wall of Sella Turcica (Turamanlar et al, 2017).…”

“…(2) Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt. * Corresponding author: Email hebatoxo@gmail.com , Phone: 01063443656 posteriorly (Turamanlar et al, 2017). From the forensic point of view; the protected position of Sella Turcica in the base of the skull encourages its use in skull identification especially in cases of badly decomposed or dismembered bodies (Hasan et al, 2016a).…”