Abstract: Objective To observe sella turcica morphology of 3-24 year-old orthodontic patients in northeast of China, and analyze the changes of sella turcica in different age periods, and provide evidence for clinical diagnosis and application. Methods One thousand seven hundred and fifty eight patients were chosen from orthodontic department, stomatology hospital, China Medical University, from 2008 to 2015. The length, depth and maximum diameter of the sella turcica were investigated by lateral cephalograms. The changes of sella turcica were analyzed in different age periods. The SPSS17.0 statistical software was used for the data analysis. Results During growth, the length, depth and maximum diameter of the sella turcica had gradually increased with age, and the sella turcica morphology remained stable after 18 years of age. Length and depth of the sella grew constantly and slowly. However, there was a peak in the changes of maximum diameter, 12 to 16 years old in male and 10 to 14 years old in female. Conclusion The results presented in this study have shown that the sella turcica morphology increases with age, and there is a peak in the changes of maximum diameter.

Key words: Sella turcica, Cephalogram, Linear measurement, Morphological analysis