Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2022 May;37(5):1075-1085.
doi: 10.1007/s00467-021-05303-5. Epub 2021 Oct 16.

Kidney length normative values in children aged 0-19 years - a multicenter study

Łukasz Obrycki  1 , Jędrzej Sarnecki  2 , Marianna Lichosik  3 , Małgorzata Sopińska  4 , Małgorzata Placzyńska  4 , Małgorzata Stańczyk  5 , Julia Mirecka  5 , Agnieszka Wasilewska  6 , Maciej Michalski  6 , Weronika Lewandowska  7 , Tadeusz Dereziński  7 , Michał Pac  3 , Natalia Szwarc  8 , Karol Annusewicz  9 , Viktoriia Rekuta  9 , Karolis Ažukaitis  10 , Andrius Čekuolis  11 , Aldona Wierzbicka-Rucińska  12 , Augustina Jankauskiene  10 , Bolesław Kalicki  4 , Katarzyna Jobs  4 , Marcin Tkaczyk  5 , Janusz Feber  13 , Mieczysław Litwin  3   14
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Kidney length normative values in children aged 0-19 years - a multicenter study

Łukasz Obrycki et al. Pediatr Nephrol. 2022 May.

Abstract

Background: Currently used pediatric kidney length normative values are based on small single-center studies, do not include kidney function assessment, and focus mostly on newborns and infants. We aimed to develop ultrasound-based kidney length normative values derived from a large group of European Caucasian children with normal kidney function.

Methods: Out of 1,782 children aged 0-19 years, 1,758 individuals with no present or past kidney disease and normal estimated glomerular filtration rate had sonographic assessment of kidney length. The results were correlated with anthropometric parameters and estimated glomerular filtration rate. Kidney length was correlated with age, height, body surface area, and body mass index. Height-related kidney length curves and table were generated using the LMS method. Multivariate regression analysis with collinearity checks was used to evaluate kidney length predictors.

Results: There was no significant difference in kidney size in relation to height between boys and girls. We found significant (p < 0.001), but clinically unimportant (Cohen's D effect size = 0.04 and 0.06) differences between prone vs. supine position (mean paired difference = 0.64 mm, 95% CI = 0.49-0.77) and left vs. right kidneys (mean paired difference = 1.03 mm, 95% CI = 0.83-1.21), respectively. For kidney length prediction, the highest coefficient correlation was observed with height (adjusted R2 = 0.87, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: We present height-related LMS-percentile curves and tables of kidney length which may serve as normative values for kidney length in children from birth to 19 years of age. The most significant predictor of kidney length was statural height.

Keywords: Children; Kidney; Kidney length; Normal references; Ultrasonography.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Kidney length percentiles by age
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Kidney length percentiles by body length/height
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Kidney length by age and sex
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
a Kidney length percentiles by BSA. b Kidney length percentiles by BMI
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Comparison of different kidney length (median) normative values
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hodson CJ, Drewe JA, Karn MN, King A. Renal size in normal children: a radiographic study during life. Arch Dis Child. 1962;37:616–622. doi: 10.1136/adc.37.196.616. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rosenbaum DM, Korngold E, Teele RL. Sonographic assessment of renal length in normal children. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1984;142:467–469. doi: 10.2214/ajr.142.3.467. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Haugstvedt S, Lundberg J. Kidney size in normal children measured by sonography. Scand J Urol Nephrol. 1980;14:251–255. doi: 10.3109/00365598009179571. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Blane CE, Bookstein FL, DiPietro MA, Kelsch RC. Sonographic standards for normal infant kidney length. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1985;145:1289–1291. doi: 10.2214/ajr.145.6.1289. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dinkel E, Ertel M, Dittrich M, Peters H, Berres M, Schulte-Wissermann H. Kidney size in childhood. Sonographical growth charts for kidney length and volume. Pediatr Radiol. 1985;15:38–43. doi: 10.1007/bf02387851. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources