Adrenal gland

Abstract

The adult adrenal glands weigh 8 –10 g and lie above and slightly medial to the upper pole of both kidneys. The outer cortex comprises 90 % of the adrenal weight, and the inner medulla about 10 %. The cortex is rich with vessels and receives its main blood supply from branches of the inferior phrenic artery, the renal arteries, and the aorta. These small arteries form an arterial plexus beneath the capsule and then enter a sinusoid system that penetrates the cortex and medulla, draining into a single central vein in each gland [ 1 ].