Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate sella turcica morphology, calculate its size and area in subjects with Down syndrome (DS), and compare them with normal subjects. A total of 100 (50 normal and 50 DS) Malay subjects who had their computed tomography (CT) scan at the Radiology Department, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) for ordinary diagnosis. The selected age groups were divided into four groups as children (0-6 years), pre-adolescents (7-12 years), adolescents (13-20 years) and adults (21-35 years). The images were processed using Mimics V17.0 software. Conventional measurements included three different heights of the sella turcica (anterior, posterior, median), its length, diameter, area and width, measured in relation to the Frankfort reference line (FH). Morphometric methods were used to assess sella shape. Significant differences were found between control and DS groups in most parameters except for the sella height anterior and median, and sella area. No significant differences in size of the sella were found for control and DS groups in most parameters between genders. When age was evaluated, there were significant differences among some age groups and non-significant in other. The study found that sella turcica in DS presented with a three different shapes: U shape (50%), J shape (42%) and shallow (8%). The size and shape of the sella turcica is different between control and DS subjects. It was found that males had more significant differences in measured parameters compared to female. Among the age groups, the children age between 0-12 years old showed highly significant difference between DS and normal individuals, compared to adolescent and adults groups.