Sonographic Determination of Normal Spleen Size in Sudanese population

Abstract

This study was carried out to estimate normal linear dimensions and volume of spleen in Sudanese using ultrasonography, to correlate splenic volume with age and body parameters (height, weight) and in order to keep it as standards reference for diagnostic purposes. This prospective study was done at Radiology Department, National Ribat University Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan, between September 2016 to February 2017, conducted on 801 volunteers (27 males and 63 females) not known to have any conditions likely to be associated with splenomegaly. All linear dimensions of spleen were measured, and splenic volume was calculated using ultrasonography. The splenic volume was then analyzed with age and body parameters using the Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results of this study revealed that the mean values of the age, height, weight of subjects, spleen length (SL), spleen width (SW), spleen thickness (ST) and spleen volume were calculated. These measurements were found to be 38.74±18.898 years, 163.11±17.747mm, 65.33±15.431kg, 91.07±11.330mm, 37.59±7.440mm, 37.78±8.085mm and 70.63±31.924cm3 respectively. Age had no significant effect on spleen volume (p=0. 684). There was a significant positive correlation, using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, between the spleen volume, and other parameters (height p=0.000, and weight p=0.002. The observations presented in this report have defined anatomic parameters about spleen size that need to be taken into consideration for reference data to determine population discrepancies and helpful for radiologists and clinicians. The present study concluded that a local reference of spleen dimensions was established with a different range of values reported previously