Autopsy study of adrenals - a prospective study

Background: Adrenal glands are the least studied organ. Aim and objective: To study the gross and histomorphological changes of adrenals in various stress related conditions including mainly the non-neoplastic conditions and patients dying due to any kind of shock. Also to study the co-relation of changes in adrenals with the clinical presentation of the patient. Material and method: Retrospective and prospective study of one hundred and eight cases in a tertiary care hospital in a period between May 2007 to Nov 2009. Results: Out of 108 cases, various adrenal lesions were found in 93 cases while only 15 cases had normal adrenals. Conclusion: Adrenal lesions can present in various forms at autopsy. Non-neoplastic lesions should be given equal importance as neoplastic. An enlarged adrenal does not always indicate malignancy. There are many clinical conditions in which adrenals are affected as secondary phenomenon. Gross and histomorphological examination of the tissue can diagnose the adrenal lesions with great accuracy and is beneficial for patients further survival, in setups where facilities to perform adrenal biopsies is available. Adrenals should be investigated as a part of routine autopsy procedure in all postmortem cases.