Vol 48, No 4 (2010)
Original paper
Published online: 2011-04-12
100th anniversary of the discovery of the human adrenal fetal zone by Stella Starkel and Lesław Węgrzynowski: how far have we come?
DOI: 10.2478/v10042-010-0062-7
Folia Histochem Cytobiol 2010;48(4):491-506.
Abstract
Year 2010 marks a centennial anniversary of the description by Stella Starkel and LesĹaw WÄgrzynowski, Polish students of the Faculty of Medicine, University of LwĂłw, the fetal zone of the human fetal adrenal gland. In 1911 both, Starkel and WÄgrzynowski were graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Lwow University. The paper appeared in the German Arch. Anat. Physiol. and its original title was "Beitrag zur Histologie der Nebeniere bei Feten und Kindern" ("Contribution to histology of adrenals of fetuses and children"). The studies were performed on 100 adrenal glands obtained from fetuses (from 6th month of gestation) and up to 5-year-old children. They described the fetal zone as a "medullary zone", also as "immature cortex", which undergoes involution in first years of life. To commemorate this discovery, this review aimed to present the most important achievements of studies on the development and involution of the human adrenal fetal zone.