Evaluation indexes of DWI
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Normal pituitary gland | |
| 0 | Pronounced artifacts; pituitary stalk and gland cannot be recognized |
| 1 | Considerable artifacts; the stalk is visible, but the gland cannot be recognized |
| 2 | Pituitary stalk and gland are visible, with moderate-to-obvious image distortion and/or most of the pituitary gland (>50%) exhibiting signal loss |
| 3 | Pituitary stalk and gland are distinctly visible, with mild image distortion and/or <50% of the pituitary gland exhibiting signal loss |
| 4 | Visualization of pituitary stalk and gland is as clear as that on T1WI |
| Pituitary macroadenoma | |
| 0 | Pronounced artifacts; adenoma cannot be recognized |
| 1 | Considerable artifacts; adenoma is visible, with or without most of the adenoma (>50%) exhibiting signal loss |
| 2 | Adenoma is visible, with obvious image distortion and with or without nearly half of the adenoma (25%–50%) exhibiting signal loss |
| 3 | Adenoma is distinctly visible; moderate image distortion, with or without <25% of the adenoma exhibiting signal loss |
| 4 | Adenoma is distinctly visible, with only mild image distortion |
| 5 | Visualization of adenoma is as clear as that on T1WI |