Gadelha MR, Barbosa MA, Lamback EB, et al. - This article involves discussion on the use of standard and advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences to diagnose and characterize pituitary adenomas (PAs), including MRI characteristics related to treatment response that could assist in presurgical assessment and planning, and red flags that could suggest an alternative diagnosis.

• Besides PAs, several other lesions may be found in the sellar region, such as meningiomas, craniopharyngiomas and aneurysms.

• For assessing lesions in the sella turcica, sellar MRI is preferred.

• With a systematic MRI approach to the pituitary region, generally the obtained information comprises: the size and shape of the PA, the presence of cysts or hemorrhage within the tumor, its link with the optic pathways and surrounding structures, potential cavernous sinus invasion, sphenoid sinus pneumatization type, and differential diagnosis with other sellar lesions.

• In the majority of cases, standard protocol serves the purpose; but additional information could be obtained by using some advanced techniques (susceptibility imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging, 3D T2-weighted high-resolution sequences, magnetic resonance elastography, perfusion-weighted imaging) and such information may be important for some cases.