Standard splenic volume in children and young adults measured from CT images

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 BW^0.797,r=0.924. The splenic volume and age (AG: years) also correlated well on a power curve; SV=41.879 AG^0.411,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.