title: Fetal adrenal gland in the second half of gestation: morphometrical assessment with 3.0T post-mortem MRI.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The morphometry of fetal adrenal gland is rarely described with MRI of high magnetic field. The purpose of this study is to assess the normal fetal adrenal gland length (AL), width (AW), height (AH), surface area (AS) and volume (AV) in the second half of gestation with 3.0T post-mortem MRI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-two fetal specimens of 23-40 weeks gestational age (GA) were scanned by 3.0T MRI. Morphological changes and quantitative measurements of the fetal adrenal gland were analyzed. Asymmetry and sexual dimorphism were also obtained. The shape of the fetal adrenal gland did not change substantially from 23 to 40 weeks GA. The bilateral adrenal glands appeared as a 'Y', pyramidal or half-moon shape after reconstruction. There was a highly linear correlation between AL, AW, AH, AS, AV and GA. AW, AH, AS and AV were larger for the left adrenal gland than the right. No sexual dimorphism was found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data delineated the normal fetal adrenal gland during the second half of gestation, and can serve as a useful precise reference for anatomy or in vivo fetus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China ; Research Center for Sectional and Imaging Anatomy, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Zhonghe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Haiwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Zhongyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Xiangtao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yuchun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qingwei
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shuwei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000196:embryology; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000196:embryology; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging