[Sonography of adrenal gland diseases in the newborn infant].

Diseases and morphological changes of the adrenal gland play an important role especially in the newborn, because malformations, congenital errors of metabolism, connatal tumours and birth injuries become symptomatic in this period of life. In this paper, the possibilities of neonatal adrenal ultrasonography for diagnosis and in the aspect of differential diagnosis are discussed. The characteristic sonographic appearance is the thin echogenic core surrounded by a thick transonic zone. Adrenal haemorrhage as well as the neuroblastoma disturb these structures and show their own characteristic pattern. In congenital adrenal hyperplasia the organ is enlarged in a fold-like manner. In agenesis or displacement of the kidney the adrenal gland presents as an elongated mass in the renal fossa and on the psoas muscle.