Ectopia of the posterior pituitary gland as a normal variant: assessment with MR imaging.

Ectopia of the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland as demonstrated by MR imaging has been described previously in patients with pituitary dwarfism [1 ], transection of the pituitary infundibulum [2], and compression or destruction of the posterior lobe of the pituitary [3]. We report two patients in whom MR imaging revealed ectopic posterior pituitary glands, even though both patients had normal pituitary function and otherwise normal MR imaging studies. The studies were performed on a GE Signa 1.5-T unit, and multiplanar spin-echo pulse sequences were utilized. We propose that the demonstration of posterior pituitary ectopia on MR may be a normal variant.