Sella turcica is a saddle shaped concavity in the body of sphenoid bone situated in the middle cranial fossa of the skull. This study describes the normal dimensions of Sella turcica of both genders of adults in a Nigerian population using computed tomography head scan of the subjects. It can be a useful tool during surgeries in pituitary and around the sella region. This is a prospective cross-sectional research design which involves measurement of the length; depth and diameter of the sella turcica using computed tomography. The data was collected from 150 individuals who underwent CT head Scan and met the selection criteria at EzeNdiEze Diagnostic Centre, Trans-Ekulu, Enugu, between October, 2017 to October, 2019. A total of 150 subjects were studied, 77 (51.3%) were males and 73 (48.7%) were females. The mean age of the participants was 55.0 + 17.8years. The age of the female was higher than that of male, however, it was not significant.  The mean length, depth and anteroposterior diameter obtained were 15.4 + 1.2, 11.7 + 0.7 and 13.5 + 0.8 respectively.Both depth and diameter of the sella turcica was also higher in male. There was no significant difference in size of the sella turcica across the age ranges and sex. The size of the pituitary gland can roughly be estimated from the dimensions of sella turcica obtained from radiological method. This can be a handy and useful tool in the hands of Neurosurgeons who operate on certain pathologies originating within the sella. Examples of such conditions include: pituitary adenomas, empty sella syndrome, pituitary abscesses, craniopharyngiomas etc.

Keywords: sella, turcica, computed, pituitary, adenomas

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Ozor Ignatius Ikemefuna

Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu.