A statistical analysis of the internal organ weights of normal Japanese people

Correlation of weights of various organs with age, body weight, and/or body height was statistically analyzed using data on the Japanese physique collected by the Medico-Legal Society from Universities and Research Institutes in almost all areas of Japan. After exclusion of unsuitable individual data for statistical analysis, findings for 4,667 Japanese, aged 0-95 y, including 3,023 males and 1,644 females were used in the present study. Analyses of age-dependent changes in weights of the brain, heart, lung, kidney, spleen, pancreas, thymus, thyroid gland and adrenal gland and also of correlations between organ weights and body height, weight, or surface area were carried out. It was concluded that organ weights in the growing generation (under 19 y) generally increased with a coefficient expressed as (body height x body weight0.5). Because clear age-dependent changes were not observed in adults over 20 y, they were classified into 4 physical types, thin, standard, plump and obese, and the relations of organ weights with these physical types were assessed. Some organs were relatively heavier in fat groups and light in thin individuals, or vice versa.