[Sonographic determination of spleen size and spleen weight]

This report deals with the results of post-mortem sonographic examination of the spleen of 36 patients. The goal of the study was to gain direct information on the precision of the sonographic organometric method we use. It becomes evident that - depending on the position of the spleen in the dome of the diaphragm - the real length of the organ is underestimated when it is measured as the direct line between the two poles. For this reason the length should be taken as the (curved) median line obtained when performing a longitudinal section of the spleen at sonography. Under these conditions there is a good correlation of the sonographic and anatomic data obtained by autopsy. The mean deviation is maximally 7 mm. For the approximate calculation of the organ weight from the sonographically obtained data the simple ellipsoid formula is sufficient. In order to obtain a normogram for sonographic weight estimation a larger statistical sample is necessary.