Table 2.
Frequency of PIs detected during imaging.
| Year | Authors | Subject | Age (y/o) | Number of Pituitaries Studied | Number of PIs Found | Frequency (%) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examination using the CT | |||||||
| 1982 | Chambers [21] | Patients with orbital symptoms | NC | 50 | 10 | 20.0 | Contrast-enhanced high-resolution CT |
| 1997 | Nammour [39] | Consecutive patients undergoing head CT at a single institution | 57 | 3550 | 7 | 0.2 | Macro PitNETs only |
| 2012 | Pette [43] | Patients examined for dental implant therapy | 10–91 Ave. 64.73 |
318 | 2 | 0.63 | Cone beam CT |
| Examination using the MRI | |||||||
| 1994 | Chong [37] | Healthy adult volunteers | 22–68 Ave. 34 |
52 | 20 | 38.5 | Local low signal on T1-weighted image |
| 1994 | Hall [38] | Healthy adult volunteers | 18–60 | 100 | 10 | 10.0 | Contrast-enhanced MRI of the pituitary gland |
| 1997 | Yue [40] | Patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease | ≥65 | 3672 | 6 | 0.16 | |
| 2007 | Vernooij [41] | Health checkups for residents near Rotterdam, the Netherlands | 45.7–96.7 Ave. 63.3 |
2000 | 6 | 0.3 | Macro PitNETs only |
| 2013 | Sandeman [44] | Residents of Edinburgh | Ave. 72.5 | 700 | 2 | 0.28 | |
| 2013 | Hegenscheid [45] | Residents of northwest Germany | 21–88 Ave. 53 |
2500 | 9 | 0.36 | |
| 2016 | Bos [46] | Residents of the Netherlands over 45 y/o | Ave. 64.9 | 5800 | 67 | 1.2 | |
| 2016 | Håberg [47] | Healthy adult volunteers | 50–66 | 1006 | 3 | 0.3 | |
| 2017 | Boutet [48] | French retirees over 65 y/o | Ave. 75.3 | 503 | 11 | 2.2 | |
| 2021 | Yoo [50] | Patients without endocrine abnormalities | <18 | 365 | 76 | 20.8 | Contrast-enhanced MRI |
| 2022 | Lohner [51] | Residents of Bonn, Germany | 55 | 3589 | 3 | 0.08 | Using 3Tesla MRI, macro PitNETs only |
| Examination using FDG PET/CT | |||||||
| 2010 | Jeong [42] | Patients with malignancy or screened for cancer | NC | 40,967 | 30 | 0.073 | |
PI: pituitary incidentaloma; CT: computed tomography; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; FDG PET: 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography; y/o: years old; NC: not clear; Ave.: average.