Pituitary region mass with intrinsic high T1 signal

Changed by Frank Gaillard, 8 Nov 2021

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Pituitary region masses with intrinsic high T1 signal, also referred to as suprasellar hotspots, are relatively frequently encountered, and the presence of high T1 signal narrows the differential somewhat.

Differential diagnosis

The differential can be divided by the substance causing the T1 hyperintensity ²:

blood
- hemorrhagic pituitary macroadenoma (with or without clinical pituitary apoplexy) (most common ³)
- thrombosed aneurysm
fat
- postoperative fat packing
- teratoma / dermoid cyst
- lipoma
protein
calcification
normal variant
- posterior pituitary bright spot
  - normal posterior pituitary
  - ectopic posterior pituitary
- normal anterior pituitary ¹
  - pregnancy
  - first 3 months of life
  - total parenteral nutrition (TPN)

~~-<li><a href="/articles/craniopharyngioma">craniopharyngioma</a></li>~~
+<li><a href="/articles/craniopharyngioma-historical">craniopharyngioma</a></li>
+<li><a title="Paranasal sinus mucocele" href="/articles/paranasal-sinus-mucocele-1">paranasal sinus mucocele</a></li>
~~-<li><a title="total parenteral nutrition" href="/articles/total-parenteral-nutrition">total parenteral nutrition (TPN)</a></li>~~
+<li><a href="/articles/total-parenteral-nutrition">total parenteral nutrition (TPN)</a></li>

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Pituitary region mass with intrinsic high T1 signal

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Differential diagnosis

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