Asymptomatic primary empty sella in a 14-year-old girl: comparison of computer tomography and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging.

An enlarged, balloon-shaped sella was detected by chance in a completely asymptomatic 14-year-old girl, who presented with tall stature. While all endocrine functions were found to be normal, metrizamide cisternography with computer tomography revealed a flattened pituitary at the bottom of an empty sella. This could be compared later with nuclear magnetic resonance tomography, thus avoiding intrathecal contrast material and radiation exposure for the patient. The new technique depicts the sellar contents very well.