ENHANCED HIGH-RESOLUTION SAGITTAL MRI OF NORMAL PINEAL GLANDS

Objective: Our goal was to determine the appearance and enhancement pa ttern of human pineal glands on MRI. Materials and Methods: High-resol ution sagittal MR images (3 mm section thickness with an 18 cm field o f view) obtained in 60 patients were retrospectively analyzed to deter mine the size and enhancement patterns of normal pineal glands followi ng the intravenous injection of contrast medium. Results: Pineal gland s were either solid (40%) or cystic (60%) with various enhancement pat terns: diffuse (15%) and partially enhanced (25%) in solid and ring-li ke (20%) and peripherally partial (40%) in cystic. Their diameter exce eded 10 mm but was <20 mm in five cases and resembled cystic pineal ne oplasms. Two such cases were found to be histologically normal. Conclu sion: Information on the appearance and enhancement patterns of normal pineal glands on MR images can improve the accuracy of diagnosing spa ce-occupying lesions in the pineal region and perhaps help to prevent unnecessary surgery.