American Journal of Neuroradiology, Vol 17, Issue 2 233-236, Copyright © 1996 by American Society of Neuroradiology
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Development of the pineal gland: measurement with MR
M Sumida, AJ Barkovich and TH Newton
Department of Neurosurgery, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, Japan.
PURPOSE: To use MR imaging in the analysis of the size of the normal pineal gland in infants, children, and adolescents. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the size of the pineal gland in 249 patients (129 male and 120 female) aged 2 weeks to 20 years old. The maximum length (L), height (H), and width (W) of the gland were determined from a combination of sagittal, coronal, and axial MR images obtained on a 1.5-T scanner. The volume was calculated by using the formula 1/2 x L x H x W. RESULTS: The size of the pineal gland was significantly smaller in patients younger than 2 years old than in older patients. The size of the pineal gland increased until 2 years of age and remained stationary between the ages of 2 and 20 years. We found a large variation in size among all age groups. No difference in size was noted between males and females. CONCLUSION: This study establishes norms for pineal gland size in infants younger than 2 years old and in children and adolescents 2 to 20 years old as detected with MR imaging. Knowledge of the size of the normal pineal gland is important in the detection of abnormalities of the pineal gland, particularly neoplasms.
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