Sonographic measurement of renal size in normal Indian children.

OBJECTIVES To determine the renal size in normal Indian children by sonography. SETTINGS Pediatric teaching hospital, Mumbai, India. DURATION 1.5 years. DESIGN Cross-sectional observational study. PARTICIPANTS 1000 normal Indian children aged 1 month to 12 years. METHODS Sonographic assessment of renal size (length, width and thickness) was performed using Philips real time mechanical sector scanner of 3.5-5 MHz frequency with electronic caliper. The mean renal dimensions and volume were calculated for each age group with ± 2SD. The renal length and calculated renal volume were correlated with somatic parameters like age, weight, height and body surface area. Regression equations were derived for each pair of dependent and independent variables. RESULTS No statistical difference was found in renal size between sexes and between right and left kidney. A strong correlation was seen between renal size with various somatic parameters, the best correlation was between renal size length and body height (coefficient of correlation=0.9). CONCLUSION This study provides values of renal length (mean ± 2SD) in normal Indian children. Renal length can be easily calculated by derived linear regression equation.