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T2 hypointense signal discovered incidentally at the posterior edge of the adenohypophysis on MRI: its prevalence and morphology and their relationship to age

  • Diagnostic Neuroradiology
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Abstract

Purpose

T2 hypointense signal at the posterior edge of the adenohypophysis (T2HSPA) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is incidentally encountered. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and morphology of T2HSPA and their relationship to age.

Methods

A total of 212 cases between 3 and 88 years old were examined. Sagittal T2-weighted image (T2WI) was evaluated for the presence of T2HSPA, which classified by its morphology into two types (belt-like or nodal). The Wilcoxon rank sum test and chi-square test were used to evaluate the differences between the groups. The T2HSPA was extracted by ImageJ software and measured as a cross-sectional area (CSA) quantitatively by threshold setting. We examined the relationship between CSA of T2HSPA and age, and Spearman’s correlation coefficients were used for statistical analysis.

Results

Of the 212 cases, 80 (37.7%) were identified with T2HSPA. The groups with T2HSPA were significantly younger than the groups without it (p = .01). Groups with belt-like T2HSPA were significantly younger than the groups with nodal T2HSPA (p = .01). There was a weak negative correlation between CSA of T2HSPA and age (p = .02).

Conclusion

T2HSPAs were incidentally detected in 37.7% of all cases, tended to be more common in younger cases, and their morphology was related to age. They seem to have little clinical significance as they tend to decrease in size with age.

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Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from founding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Shimane University Faculty of Medicine, 89-1 Enyacho, P.O. Box 00693-8501, Izumo, Japan

    Aiko Gobara, Takashi Katsube, Hiroya Asou, Rika Yoshida, Takeshi Yoshizako & Hajime Kitagaki

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  1. Aiko Gobara
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  2. Takashi Katsube
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  3. Hiroya Asou
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  4. Rika Yoshida
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  5. Takeshi Yoshizako
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Contributions

Aiko Gobara, Takashi Katsube, Hiroya Asou, Rika Yoshida, Takeshi Yoshizako, and Hajime Kitagaki contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection and analysis were performed by Aiko Gobara, Takashi Katsube, Hiroya Asou, and Rika Yoshida. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Aiko Gobara and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Aiko Gobara.

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Gobara, A., Katsube, T., Asou, H. et al. T2 hypointense signal discovered incidentally at the posterior edge of the adenohypophysis on MRI: its prevalence and morphology and their relationship to age. Neuroradiology 64, 1755–1761 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-022-02935-8

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