A morphological study of human pineal gland in post-mortem cases

The current study was conducted in the Department of Anatomy, Osmania Medical College, Koti, Hyderabad over a period of 1year. A total of 30 human pineal glands (16-males,11-females,3 excluded for post-mortem autolysis) from those bodies between the age groups of 1-80years were collected during the post-mortem study at the Mortuary of Osmania General Hospital, Koti, Hyderabad and were included in the study. Morphological parameters like weight and transverse diameter at the maximum width of the pineal glands were measured and then the pineal glands were processed for light microscopy. 4-5micron thick sections were cut and stained with H&E and Masson Trichrome for highlighting the connective tissue pattern of the pineal gland. Under light microscope, the capsular delineation, pattern of septation and lobulation, calcification, intracellular brown pigment, intraparenchymal inflammatory cells, fibrosis, gliosis and cystic changes in the pineal glands were observed in relation to age and gender.