[NMR tomographic diagnosis of microadenomas of the hypophysis: a comparison of MRT, CT and operation].

The MR and CT findings of 24 surgically verified cases with clinical and neuroradiological evidence for pituitary microadenomas were compared. In 18 patients the preoperative diagnosis was surgically confirmed. In 6 cases the preoperative diagnosis proved to be wrong at operation. In 18 cases with confirmed diagnosis MR proved more sensitive than CT, whereas in the 6 cases with wrong diagnosis both methods proved to be of equal sensitivity. It is concluded that MR is superior to CT for the evaluation of pituitary microadenomas, provided that high-field and special examination techniques including thin, overlapping sections and enhancement with GD-DTPA are used.