Computed tomographic assessment of renal length in correlation to anthropometric parameters: A cross-sectional hospital-based observational study from Iraq

Abstract

Abstract Background: Measuring the renal size is an important parameter used in the assessment of patients with renal diseases. There is no conventional nomogram for kidney length in the Iraqi population. Objectives: The main objective of our study was to evaluate the ranges of normal renal length in our population. Material and Methods: The right and the left kidney lengths were measured by computed tomography (CT) scan in 100 adult individuals without apparent renal condition. Analysis for differences was conducted according to laterality, age, and sex. The correlation of renal length with anthropometrical indices like body weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and body surface area (BSA) was also evaluated. Results: The mean length of the right kidney was 11.4 cm for males and 10.2 cm for females, and of the left kidney was 11.5 cm in males and 10.8 cm in females. The mean renal lengths in the Iraqi population were similar to Iranian and American populations. The left kidney was longer than the right. Age-group analysis exhibited a significant decline in renal length beyond the sixth decade. There was a modest positive correlation of renal length with height, weight, and BSA but no correlation with BMI. Conclusion: The research supports the knowledge of the standard renal length range in a study population of apparently healthy Iraqi individuals by using CT scan imaging and derives linear regression equations that can be simply used in clinical practice to estimate the renal length according to body indices such as height or weight.