Ultrasonographic assessment of renal length in 310 Turkish children in the Eastern Anatolia region

Abstract

Background. Kidney size varies with age in children. It is therefore clear that a standardisation of measurements by age group is required.

Objectives. To determine the normal renal length of healthy children in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey using ultrasonography and to study the relationship between renal length and sex, age, body height and weight, repsectively.

Methods. A retrospective study of 310 children aged 0 - 16 years (150 girls and 160 boys) was performed. The children were divided into 11 age groups. Scanning was performed with a 3.5 MHz ultrasound probe in the supine position. The ultrasonographic appearance of the kidneys we measured was normal. The maximum length of each kidney was measured. The renal length was correlated with somatic parameters including age, body height and weight. Regression equations were derived for each pair of dependent and independent variables.

Results. No difference was found between the renal lengths of the boys and girls (p>0.05). The mean left renal length was greater than the right renal length, and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Renal length showed the strongest correlation with body height (r=0.966 and r=0.958 for the right and left kidneys, respectively; p<0.001).

Conclusion. It is important to know the limits of kidney size on ultrasound examination. We found that renal length showed the strongest correlation with body height. The renal length can be calculated easily by deriving a linear regression equation. We hope that our study will be useful in daily routine ultrasonography.