Digital analysis of the volume of the human foetal suprarenal arteries.

Vascularisation of an organ is an index of its metabolic activity. The suprarenal glands are of crucial importance in the development of pregnancy. No data were found by the authors to describe the volume of the human foetal suprarenal arteries throughout pregnancy. The study was designed to form a database of human foetal suprarenal arterial volume in relation to foetal age and sex. Digital images were obtained at 4-week intervals of the suprarenal arteries of 30 foetuses aged between 12-40 Hbd. The arteries were primarily filled with LBS latex. A unique form of software was designed to assist in incorporating vector graphics, spliced functions of Bezier, into the analysis. The arteries contoured by the geometric curves were calculated for their initial, average and terminal diameter, length and volume. The measurements were compared in relation to foetal age and sex at 4-week intervals. Foetal age was assessed by means of calculation from the last menstrual period, manual measurement of foot length and ultrasonagraphic measurement of femoral length. The suprarenal arteries in human foetuses are of strongly individual variation both in their origin and quantity. The volume of the arteries appears constant in the group analysed.