Adrenal Gland Enlargement in Major Depression

In an interesting study, Nemeroff et al,¹using computed tomographic (CT) scans of the adrenal glands, recently reported a mean (±SD) adrenal volume of 14±5.9 mL in 38 patients with major depression (19 women and 19 men), which was significantly larger than the mean adrenal volume of 8.9±2.5 mL measured in 11 normal control subjects (four women and seven men). The data were determined both by visual inspection by two radiologists (12 of the patients had enlarged glands) and by volumetric determinations. The adrenal volumes for both groups of subjects are considerably larger than those previously reported by others²and by us,³and raises a question about the accuracy of their imaging results, since no calibration data for their CT scanner were given. Amsterdam et al,²also using CT, reported a mean (±SD) total adrenal gland volume of 4.5±1.9 mL for 13 female and three male