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Foetal zone --> foetal adrenal cortex

An extensive area of the adrenal gland present in primates during foetal life and for a short period after birth; located between the definitive cortex and the medulla, it contains large steroid-secreting cells arranged in a reticular pattern; involution of this zone in humans is largely completed by three months after birth.

Synonym: androgenic zone, foetal reticularis, foetal zone, provisional cortex.