Morphometric Study of the Human Adrenocortical Adenomas (Functioning Adenomas)

Morphometric studies on the light microscopic level were carried out on 11 cases from adrenocortical adenomas associated with primary aldosteronism (P.A.), 7 cases from those with Cushing\u27s syndrome (C.S.) and as control, 6 cases from adrenal cortex at autopsy. Perimeter and area of cytoplasm and nuclei, form factor, nuclear contour index and nuclear cytoplasmic ratio were measured as parameters. A great variety of each parameter was characterized in the adrenocortical adenomas compared with that of control. This pleomorphism in adenoma cells may reflect an active state in steroidogenesis or a sign of active proliferation of tumor cells. Rather than compact-type cells, clear-type cells contributed to the pleomorphism of C.S