Introduction

Sella turcica is a saddle-shaped depression in the sphenoid bone that contains the pituitary gland.

Objectives

To investigate the morphological types of sella turcica with two different classifications in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images in a group of Turkish population.

Material and methods

Full head CBCT images of 1,000 patients (535 men, 465 women), aged 6-91 years, were retrospectively analyzed. Morphological types of sella turcica were evaluated in multiplanar planes of CBCT according to two classification systems, and a relationship between them was examined. Relationships between categorical variables were analyzed using 2 test.

Results

Frequency of basic morphological types of sella turcica was as follows: oval, 48%; flattened, 34.7%; circular, 17.3%. Flattened type of basic morphological sella types was significantly higher in males (p = 0.001). Except this type, there was no significant difference between genders. Normal type of sella turcica was detected in 532 (53.2%) of 1,000 patients. Frequency of other morphological types of sella turcica were as follows, respectively: irregularity (notching) in the posterior part of dorsum sella, 40.9%; sella turcica bridging, 2%; pyramidal shape of dorsum sella, 1.7%; oblique anterior wall, 1.2%; double contour of sellar floor, 1%. Irregularity (notching) in the posterior part of sella turcica type was observed significantly more in cases, in which basic morphological sella types were flattened (p = 0.001).

Conclusions

A higher rate of normal sella morphology was detected on CBCT compared with studies conducted with wider age range. Oval sella was mostly observed with normal sella, and flattened sella was mostly determined with irregularity in posterior part of dorsum sella. CBCT is a useful technique to examine morphological types of sella turcica.