Growth of the adrenal gland of the normal human fetus during early gestation

Abstract

The weights of 182 adrenal glands obtained from presumably normal human fetuses delivered by elective abortion between 6 and 17 weeks post-conceptional gestational age were measured. There was little increase in adrenal weight between 6 and 12 weeks gestation. Thereafter, the rate of increase in adrenal weight was rapid. There were no significant differences between the adrenal gland of male and female abortuses of similar gestational ages.