Adrenal gland volume after spinal cord injury.
OBJECTIVE
Spinal cord injury in adult men may result in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction. Atrophy of adrenal glands was speculated in these patients. This study was undertaken to clarify the functional-anatomic correlation between adrenal volume and body surface area in subjects with spinal cord injury with impaired adrenal reserve.


METHODS
Twenty male subjects with chronic spinal cord injury with impaired adrenal reserve were identified by adrenocorticotropic hormone stimulation test from a group of 42 subjects. All subjects with spinal cord injury and healthy volunteers underwent computed tomographic imaging with contiguous 3-mm section over adrenal glands for volumetric measurements. Ten pairs of subjects with spinal cord injury and controls with matched height and weight were included in the statistical analysis.


RESULTS
Significantly increased relative adrenal volumes were noted among subjects with chronic spinal cord injury and impaired adrenal reserve as compared with the body weight-matched and height-matched control group.


CONCLUSIONS
Increased relative adrenal volumes were found after chronic spinal cord injury. Hyperplasia of the zona glomerulosa may be the cause of increased relative adrenal volume after chronic spinal cord injury.
Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Wen-Jeng
WJ
Lee
Yen-Ho
YH
Wang
Cheng-Tau
CT
Su
Shyh-Jye
SJ
Chen
Yiu-Wah
YW
Li
Tien-Shang
TS
Huang
D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000473:pathology*; D000309:Adrenal Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D010912:Pituitary-Adrenal Function Tests; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed