ABSTRACT
The adrenals are paired retroperitoneal organs, pyramidal on the right, crescentic on the left, located superior and medial to the kidneys. The weight of the adrenal gland varies with age and physiologic conditions. Each gland weighs approximately 10 g in a healthy newborn, dropping to 5 g by 2 weeks of age due to the rapid degeneration of the provisional or fetal cortex. The combined adrenal weights in adults can vary significantly with physiologic stress. One manifestation of this is the difference in weight between surgical specimens (4 g) and autopsy cases (6 g) [1].
