Morphology of human suprarenal glands: a parameter for comparison

Forty suprarenal glands were studied 20 being dissected from aborted fetuse s of 9 to 36 weeks' gestation and 20 obtained from human cadavers of ages I day to 60 years. All the specimens were from a Northern India population. The side and shape of each suprarenal gland was noted and documented. The l ength, breadth, thickness and volume of each gland were measured and tabula ted in terms of age. The mean length, breadth and thickness in fetuses of 9 -36 weeks were found to be 1.4 cm, 1 cm and 0.45 cm respectively. In the po stnatal age group the measurements were 4.5 cm, 2.08 cm and 0.66 cm respect ively. The commonest shape of the suprarenal glands on left side was semilu nar but on the right side it was highly variable: triangular, tetrahedral, inverted Y or V shaped. On comparison of the gross measurements with availa ble ultrasound and CT scan data it was found that both the length and thick ness in the population studied were greater than reported in the literature . A knowledge of these variations is very important in diagnosis of abnorma lities of the suprarenal gland, of which tumoral enlargement is rather comm on.