Abstract
Background: A change in renal length may be evidence of many renal diseases. The aim of our study was to produce reference ranges for renal length in Sudanese children up to 5 years of age using ultrasonography.
Methods and Results: This cross-sectional study was done to measure the normal size of kidneys in pediatrics up to 5 years of age using ultrasound. The study was conducted at Khartoum state in the Emergency Department of Albuluk Pediatric Hospital and Jafar Ibn Ouf Referral Pediatric Hospital from March to June 2018. The study included 101 Sudanese children up to 5 years with normal renal function tests and urine analysis. All ultrasound examinations of the kidneys were performed on a GE Logiq F6 Ultrasound Machine. The longitudinal measurement was obtained from the coronal section, while thickness and width were measured in the transverse section. The study revealed that mean measurements of the right kidney (RK) were 6.74 +/- 1.16 cm, 3.12 +/- 0.68 cm, and 2.59 +/- 0.58 cm for length, width, and anteroposterior diameter, respectively, and for the left kidney (LK) 6.98 +/- 1.10 cm, 3.25 +/- 0.65 cm, and 2.74 +/- 0.60 cm, respectively. There was no significant difference in renal length according to gender. The study concluded that the renal length in pediatric up to 5 years old can be predicted by age using the following regression equations: RK length = 0.0422 x age +5.4182 cm (R-2=0.4636), LK length = 0.0392 x age +5.7472 cm (R-2=0.4539).
Conclusion: The study found a significant correlation between RK, LK length and age (r=0.68 for RK and r=0.67 for LK, P < 0.01). Age is an important influencing factor for assessing kidney length since there is a strong, significant correlation between age and kidney length.