MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING FEATURES OF PITUITARY Y-90 ROD IMPLANTATION

Intersellar implantation of yttrium-90 rods was a common treatment for a variety of pituitary tumours in the 1960s and 1970s, The magnetic r esonance (MR) imaging features in three patients with implants (two fo r growth hormone-secreting and one for prolactin-secreting pituitary a denomas) are presented: the implants appeared as low signal cylinders with no image distortion, in contradistinction to CT where the implant s generate beam hardening and back projection artefacts. Confident eva luation of the pituitary fossa for residential tumour and sequelae of therapy could be made on MR. It is the imaging technique of choice in the follow-up of patients treated with yttrium-90 implants.