Standard splenic volume in children and young adults measured
from CT images
Yasuhiro Watanabe, Takuji Todani, Takuo Noda, Sae Yamamoto
Surg Today 27: 726-728, 1997
The number of children and adolescents with hypersplenism is increasing
as the number of long-term survivors undergoing successful Kasai operation
for biliary atresia increases. The aim of this study was to determine the
standard splenic volume in normal children and adolescents. We measured
the splenic volumes with computed tomography (CT) images obtained from 49
Japanese children, adolescents, and young adults, ranging from 9 days to
25 years of age, and from 3.0kg to 89.0kg of body weight. The best correlation
was observed between splenic volume (SV: cm^3) and body weight (BW: kg)
with a power curve regression; SV = 6.516 BW^0.797, r = 0.924. The splenic
volume and age (AG: years) also correlated well on a power curve; SV = 41.879
AG^0.411, r = 0.897. The ratio of the splenic volume to the body weight
(SV/BW: cm^3/kg) decreased with age; from 4.5cm^3/kg at I month to 2.4cm^3/kg
at 25 years of age, according to an exponential curve; SV/BW = 4.473 e^-0.026AG,
r = 0.593. The above formulas are thus considered to be clinically useful,
especially in the assessment of splenic size in children with hypersplenism
both before and after partial splenic embolization.
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