Nomograms of total renal volume, urinary bladder volume and bladder wall thickness index in 3,376 children with a normal urinary tract

Abstract

We have previously shown that urinary bladder volume index (BVI = length x width x depth of bladder) and bladder volume wall thickness index (BVWI = BVI at full bladder/average bladder wall thickness) are useful indicators of bladder dysfunction in children with enuresis and urinary tract infection. These indices show a good correlation with urodynamic studies. We have expanded the study to include normal paediatric subjects with a wide age range. We illustrate a simple sonography protocol with nomograms of different parameters, which provide useful references for functional assessment in children with urological abnormalities. To construct nomograms of total renal volume, maximum BVI and BVWI based on a Chinese paediatric population with age range from newborn to adolescence. Sonography was performed in consecutive children with normal urinary tracts on imaging, using a standardized protocol. Data were collected for construction of nomograms for different parameters. Nomograms of total renal volume, BVI and BVWI were constructed based on 3,376 consecutive paediatric subjects. All parameters consistently increased with age. Nomograms of total renal volume, BVI and BVWI could provide useful references for studying bladder dysfunction in children using noninvasive dynamic sonography.