Stromal fat content of the parathyroid gland.

The proportion of stromal fat cells to parenchymal cells in 100 normal parathyroid glands was determined by the image analyzing computer technique. The parathyroid glands were resected at the time of thyroidectomy in 86 patients with thyroid tumors. None of the patients had any evidence of parathyroid dysfunction preoperatively. In the histologic sections of the parathyroid glands, the average percentage of stromal fat cell content was 38%. The percentage of stromal fat cells was correlated with the age and the body constitution of the patients, but the percentages of fat cells varied widely among glands in the given age and body constitution ranges. It was therefore not possible to discriminate a normal parathyroid gland from an abnormal gland solely on the basis of microscopic determination of stromal fat cell content.