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Standard splenic volume in children and young adults measured from CT images
1Department of Pediatric Surgery, Kagawa Medical University, Japan.
Insights
This study establishes standard splenic volume reference ranges for children and adolescents using CT scans. These formulas correlate splenic volume with body weight and age, aiding in hypersplenism assessment.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Radiology
- Medical Imaging
- Splenic Physiology
Background:
- Increasing incidence of hypersplenism in pediatric patients, particularly those surviving biliary atresia.
- Need for accurate splenic size assessment in children and adolescents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine standard splenic volume (SV) in normal pediatric and adolescent populations.
- To establish reference formulas correlating SV with body weight (BW) and age (AG).
Main Methods:
- Utilized computed tomography (CT) scans from 49 Japanese subjects (9 days to 25 years).
- Measured splenic volumes and correlated them with body weight and age using power curve regression.
- Analyzed the splenic volume to body weight ratio (SV/BW) in relation to age.
Main Results:
- Established power curve regression formulas: SV = 6.516 BW^0.797 (r=0.924) and SV = 41.879 AG^0.411 (r=0.897).
- Observed a decrease in SV/BW ratio with age, described by SV/BW = 4.473e^(-0.026AG) (r=0.593).
- Demonstrated strong correlations between splenic volume and both body weight and age.
Conclusions:
- The derived formulas provide clinically useful reference standards for splenic volume in children and adolescents.
- These standards are valuable for assessing splenic size in pediatric hypersplenism, pre- and post-intervention (e.g., partial splenic embolization).
Abstract:
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 3.0 kg to 89.0 kg of body weight. The best correlation was observed between splenic volume (SV: cm3) and body weight (BW: kg) with a power curve regression; SV = 6.516 BW0.797, r = 0.924. The splenic volume and age (AG: years) also correlated well on a power curve; SV = 41.879 AG0.411, r = 0.897. The ratio of the splenic volume to the body weight (SV/BW: cm3/kg) decreased with age; from 4.5 cm3/kg at 1 month to 2.4 cm3/kg at 25 years of age, according to an exponential curve; SV/BW = 4.473e-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.