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Pituitary Variations, Artifacts, Primary Empty Sella, and Incidentalomas

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Book cover Atlas of Normal Imaging Variations of the Brain, Skull, and Craniocervical Vasculature

Abstract

The pituitary gland arises from the ectoderm but has two separate components both embryologically and functionally: the anterior lobe (adenohypophysis) and the posterior lobe (neurohypophysis). The adenohypophysis arises from the Rathke pouch, which represents an upward invagination of the oral ectoderm; the adenohypophysis is also called the anterior lobe and secretes a number of important endocrine hormones (under direction from the hypothalamus) for growth, fertility, lactation, and to respond to biological stress. The neurohypophysis represents a downward protrusion of the neural ectoderm from the diencephalon/hypothalamus; the neurohypophysis is also called the posterior lobe, which secretes hormones (also under direction from the hypothalamus) that regulate water absorption/resorption and uterine contractions. Between the anterior and posterior lobes lies the pars intermedia (the intermediate lobe), which is rudimentary and only vestigial in humans. Occasionally, Rathke cleft cysts (also known as pars intermedia cysts) form in this site as a result of incomplete regression of this lobe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroradiology Division Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Alexander M. McKinney MD, CIIP (Professor, Peterson Chair of Neuroradiology)

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  1. Alexander M. McKinney MD, CIIP
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McKinney, A.M. (2017). Pituitary Variations, Artifacts, Primary Empty Sella, and Incidentalomas. In: Atlas of Normal Imaging Variations of the Brain, Skull, and Craniocervical Vasculature . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39790-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39790-0_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39789-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39790-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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